Donald Trump may launch his own social media platform soon
Following the 6 January attacks on the US Capitol building, Google-owned YouTube had put a temporary ban on Trump’s account, while Facebook and Twitter banned him permanently
New Delhi: Former US President Donald Trump reportedly plans to launch his own social media platform soon. The platform would be “big" and will draw “tens of millions of people", Jason Miller, senior adviser for Trump told American television network Fox News.
“I do think that we’re going to see President Trump returning to social media in probably about two or three months here, with his own platform," Miller said.
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The former President had been banned from Twitter and Facebook following the January 6 attacks on the US Capitol building. While Google-owned YouTube had put a temporary ban on Trump’s account, Facebook and Twitter banned him permanently. Trump had millions of followers on both platforms and had regularly used Twitter to reach out to his followers and fans.
Trump had himself mentioned making his own social media platform after the bans. He also used the @POTUS account on Twitter to accuse tech giants of “banning free speech". “We have been negotiating with various other sites, and will have a big announcement soon, while we also look at the possibilities of building out our own platform in the near future," he had tweeted through the account.
While many saw the ban on Trump’s account as something that was inevitable, it did put companies like Facebook and Twitter under more scrutiny. Experts had said the two platforms wield enormous power and some argued that they shouldn’t be allowed to moderate public personalities like Trump.
In fact, in a blog post last week, Twitter said it would be seeking inputs from the public on how it should moderate such accounts. “Generally, we want to hear from the public on whether or not they believe world leaders should be subject to the same rules as others on Twitter. And, should a world leader violate a rule, what type of enforcement action is appropriate," the company said in the post.
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