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Snapchat says it will no longer promote Trump’s account

Snapchat will not “amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice” on its platform

4 Jun 2020

Snapchat is the latest social media company to take action against President Donald Trump. The company announced in a statement on Wednesday that it would no longer promote President Trump’s account on its Discover page. The company explained it doesn’t want to “amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice” on its platform.

For those unfamiliar with the app, Snapchat’s Discover section highlights content from news organizations, popular brands, celebrities and the occasional politician. While the president’s Snapchat account remains visible on the platform, this move means that Snapchat will no longer feature President Trump’s account within its Discover section.

"We are not currently promoting the President's content on Snapchat's Discover platform," a spokesman for Snapchat explained in a statement. "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."

Brad Parscale, President Trump's 2020 campaign manager has since accused Snapchat of "trying to rig the 2020 election,” calling Snapchat CEO Evan Speigel a “radical.”

“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,” Parscale wrote in a statement posted to the campaign’s website.

Snap, Snapchat’s parent company, has yet to comment on Parscale's election-rigging accusations.

Snapchat isn’t the first social media company to take a stance on the type of content President Trump posts online. Last week, Twitter labeled a tweet from President Trump on mail-in voting as misleading. The company later restricted a tweet from President Trump, explaining that by quoting former Miami police chief Walter Headley, he was glorifying violence on the platform. In response, President Trump signed an executive order meant to target social media companies and dismantle Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act 1996.