Trump slams the ‘radical left’ and says it’s ‘in total command and control’ of social media
Trump claims the ‘radical left’ is ‘in total command and control of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google’ and vows administration is ‘working to remedy this illegal situation’
- On Saturday, Trump said in his tweet: ‘The Radical Left is in total command & control of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google’
- He added: ‘The Administration is working to remedy this illegal situation. Stay tuned, and send names & events’
- Trump has regularly blasted Twitter, accusing the social media platform – along with Facebook and Google – of political bias against conservatives
- There is no evidence to suggest that right-wing pages are being targeted by these sites
- In July, he called on Congress to pass legislation that would clamp down on the firms and said Twitter should be fined for engaging in ‘possible illegal’ activity
- On Friday it emerged that federal and state regulators in the U.S. are preparing to file antitrust lawsuits
- They allege the company has abused its dominance of online search and advertising to stifle competition and and boost its profits.
By Matthew Wright For Dailymail.com
Published: 09:35 EDT, 16 May 2020 | Updated: 12:13 EDT, 16 May 2020
President Donald Trump took to Twitter on Saturday to slam popular social media platforms for being controlled by ‘the radical left.’
Trump launched into his tirade on Saturday morning while sharing a video of a speech given by Michelle Malkin – a right-wing conspiracy theorist who has previously questioned the number of people who have died in the Holocaust.
‘The Radical Left is in total command & control of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google,’ Trump said in his tweet. ‘The Administration is working to remedy this illegal situation. Stay tuned, and send names & events. Thank you Michelle!’
Trump’s tweet came after it emerged that federal and state regulators in the U.S. are preparing to file antitrust lawsuits alleging Google has abused its dominance of online search and advertising to stifle competition and and boost its profits.
‘The Radical Left is in total command & control of Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Google,’ Trump said in his Saturday tweet. ‘The Administration is working to remedy this illegal situation. Stay tuned, and send names & events. Thank you Michelle!
Trump has regularly blasted Twitter, Facebook and Google, accusing them of political bias against conservatives. There is no evidence to suggest that right-wing pages are being targeted by these sites. Pictured, Trump speaks to the press at the White House on Friday
President Trump meets with Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in the White House in 2019. On Saturday morning, Trump launched a tirade against Facebook as well as other popular social media platforms claiming that they are controlled by the ‘radical left’
A picture shared by Donald Trump on Twitter when he met with tech chiefs including Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, pictured to the far right. He slammed the social media platforms on Saturday
According to a report published in The Wall Street Journal on Friday, the upcoming offensive is being made by the U.S. Justice Department and the attorneys general from several states.
REVEALED: Facebook’s new ‘great and good’ privacy committee created as part of $5B settlement with US government following Cambridge Analytica scandal
Facebook has created a ‘privacy committee’ on its board of directors as part of the company’s $5billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission following the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Members of the panel, which will be responsible for overseeing risks related to privacy and data use, were named in a financial filing on Wednesday, Business Insider reported.
Independent directors Peggy Alford and Robert Kimmitt will serve as committee members under chair Nancy Killefer, who joined the board in March.
Under a historic $5billion settlement announced last July, Facebook was required to ramp up privacy protections; provide detailed quarterly reports on compliance with the deal, and have an independent oversight board.
It came after the Cambridge Analytica scandal that allowed the hijacking of personal data of millions of users ahead of the 2016 US presidential election.
The social network has begun rolling out provisions of the deal after it became official with the approval of a federal judge on April 23.
Last week, the company unveiled the first 20 members of its new Oversight Board – the independent body which will have the final say on content allowed on both Facebook and Instagram.
The Justice Department may file its case as early as this summer while Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton may take action in the fall, along with his peers in other states, according to the Journal.
U.S. Attorney General William Barr has previously said he hoped to decide whether to pursue an antitrust case against Google by the summer. Texas and other states announced they were looking into Google’s business practices last September.
Google acknowledged it has ongoing discussions with the Justice Department and Paxton without elaborating on the nature of the talks.
‘Our focus is firmly on providing services that help consumers, support thousands of businesses, and enable increased choice and competition,’ the company said in a statement.
This isn’t the first time Google has been thrust under the microscope of antitrust in the U.S.
The Federal Trade Commission closed an extensive investigation into Google’s alleged abuses in 2013 without taking any action because it concluded the Mountain View, California, company wasn’t hurting consumers
Since then, Google has grown even more powerful under the umbrella of the corporate parent, Alphabet, that it spawned in five years ago.
When the FTC closed its case, Google was generating annual revenue of $50 billion.
Last year, earned Alphabet raked in $162 billion in revenue.
Most of the money comes from a digital ad market that Google dominates along with social networking rival Facebook – another potential target of antitrust regulators.
There has been no word, though, on whether Facebook might be sued.
Some critics have pointed to Facebook’s acquisition of Instagram and WhatsApp, for example, as deals that should be questioned.
The popular messaging services are among some 70 companies that Facebook has acquired over the past 15 years or so, giving it what critics say is massive market power that has enabled it to snuff out competition.
On Thursday, it emerged that Facebook has created a ‘privacy committee’ on its board of directors as part of the company’s $5billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission following the Cambridge Analytica scandal.
Members of the panel, which will be responsible for overseeing risks related to privacy and data use, were named in a financial filing on Wednesday, Business Insider reported.
Independent directors Peggy Alford and Robert Kimmitt will serve as committee members under chair Nancy Killefer, who joined the board in March.
Under a historic $5billion settlement announced last July, Facebook was required to ramp up privacy protections after the Cambridge Analytica scandal that allowed the hijacking of personal data of millions of users ahead of the 2016 US presidential election.
They must now provide detailed quarterly reports on compliance with the deal, and have an independent oversight board.
The social network began rolling out provisions of the deal after it became official with the approval of a federal judge on April 23.
White House senior adviser Ivanka Trump, left, with Google CEO Sundar Pichai. It was revealed that federal and state regulators in the U.S. are preparing to file antitrust lawsuits alleging Google has abused its dominance of online search and advertising to stifle competition and and boost its profits. The Justice Department may file its case as early as this summer
Google CEO Sundar Pichai arrives to testify before the House Judiciary Committee to be questioned about the internet giant’s privacy security and data collection in 2018
Last week, the company unveiled the first 20 members of its new Oversight Board – the independent body which will have the final say on content allowed on both Facebook and Instagram.
Former editor-in-chief of The Guardian, Alan Rusbridger, was among the 20 board members to have been appointed.
First announced last year, the board will have the ability to overrule Facebook’s decisions on content moderation, and individuals who disagree with a Facebook content decision will also be able to appeal to the board.
REVEALED: Facebook’s $130m ‘independent supreme court’
Facebook faced a storm over the make-up of its new $130million ‘politically neutral’ supreme court after it was swamped with left-wing luminaries including ex-Guardian editor Alan Rusbridger and Neil Kinnock’s daughter-in-law.
Critics have accused Mark Zuckerberg of ‘blowing’ his chance of setting up a ‘meaningful’ and ‘politically balanced’ oversight committee for the social media giant because so few of its members have conservative credentials.
They will be charged with hearing appeals against the way the social network moderates content and chooses advertising as well as privacy issues and fake news.
Denmark’s first female prime minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt is among the big names appointed to the powerful group.
Also appointed was Alan Rusbridger, the former editor of the left-leaning Guardian newspaper.
He has recently argued that US TV should stop live broadcasting Donald Trump’s White House press conferences claiming the President was ‘spreading disinformation’.
The board is to be expanded to 40 members.
It remained unclear when the board would start hearing cases due to restrictions on gathering or travelling caused by the deadly coronavirus pandemic – or how much, exactly, they will be paid.
Five of the members are from the US – and 15 are from around the world including at least two with strong links to Britain.
The social network will also be able to directly refer significant and difficult cases to the independent body.
Last year, the Trump administration launched a survey asking people to share their experiences of being censored on the various social media platforms.
He has accused Twitter, Facebook and Google of bias against conservatives.
There is no evidence that suggest that right-wing pages are being targeted by these sites.
He has also repeatedly threatened to investigate or regulate them.
In July, he called on Congress to pass legislation that would clamp down on the firms and said Twitter should be fined for engaging in ‘possible illegal’ activity.
Paul Singer, founder of investment management firm Elliott Management, took a hefty stake of Twitter in March with a plan to oust Jack Dorsey from his CEO role.
Singer is a Republican mega-donor and backer of Trump.
A deal has since been reached to keep Dorsey in his positions.
It remains to be seen what impact a Republican Trump supporter stakeholder will have on the social media platform’s future political stance.
Twitter also came under fire for his position on political ads, along with Facebook and Google, in September after it refused to remove a misleading video ad from Trump’s campaign that targeted former Democrat Joe Biden.
Following the issue, Jack Dorsey announced Twitter was banning all political advertising from its service, saying social media companies give advertisers an unfair advantage in proliferating highly targeted and misleading messages.
‘We’ve made the decision to stop all political advertising on Twitter globally. We believe political message reach should be earned, not bought. Why? A few reasons…’ Dorsey tweeted back in October.
