What you need to know
- Snapchat is taking a stand against President Trump.
- It says it will no longer promote his content on the Discover platform.
- In a statement, Snapchat said it would "not amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice".
Snapchat is no longer actively promoting President Donald Trump on its Discover platform.
As reported by The Verge:
President Trump's verified Snapchat account will no longer be promoted within the app after executives concluded that his tweets over the weekend promoted violence, the company said today. His account, RealDonaldTrump, will remain on the platform and continue to appear on search results. But he will no longer appear in the app's Discover tab, which promotes news publishers, elected officials, celebrities, and influencers.
As mentioned, RealDonaldTrump is not being suppressed or removed, simply not promoted to the app's discovery page. In a statement the company said:
"We are not currently promoting the president's content on Snapchat's Discover platform. We will not amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice by giving them free promotion on Discover. Racial violence and injustice have no place in our society and we stand together with all who seek peace, love, equality, and justice in America."
The President has over 1.5 million followers on Snapchat, and his following has reportedly tripled over the last 12 months thanks to regular promotion in the app's Discover tab. Snapchat is not the first social media platform to shift its stance on the President's social media activity. After some of the President's tweets were labeled by Twitter, one as misleading, the other as threatening violence, the President threatened social media companies with an executive order, a move which thankfully, faces plenty of roadblocks.
Snapchat sent a message from CEO Evan Spiegel to all employees Sunday, stating that it condemned racial violence. Snapchat said, "we simply cannot promote accounts in America that are linked to people who incite racial violence" whether they did so on Snapchat or elsewhere. The decision to remove the President's account from Discover was reportedly made after the president threatened to greet protestors with "the most vicious dogs and ominous weapons, I have ever seen".
In a statement Brad Parscale, Trump's campaign chairman said Snapchat was trying to "rig the 2020 election, illegally using their corporate funding to promote Joe Biden and suppress President Trump":
"Radical Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel would rather promote extreme left riot videos and encourage their users to destroy America than share the positive words of unity, justice, and law and order from our President"
Joe Biden also took to Snapchat to say he was "proud" to be running for President and still be on Snapchat.
.@JoeBiden weighs in on Snapchat’s decesion to stop promoting Trump’s account >>
“I just wanted to tell you I’m proud to be able to run for President and still be on Snapchat.”pic.twitter.com/d9D0Lw8fyi.@JoeBiden weighs in on Snapchat’s decesion to stop promoting Trump’s account >>
“I just wanted to tell you I’m proud to be able to run for President and still be on Snapchat.”pic.twitter.com/d9D0Lw8fyi— Matt Hill (@thematthill) June 3, 2020June 3, 2020
