Trump: If Social Media Companies ‘Silence Conservative Voices’ Then We’ll ‘Close Them Down’

President Donald Trump has effectively suggested he’ll close down social media platforms if conservatives feel they’re being silenced. There is no evidence that the major social media companies disproportionately target conservatives, despite years of right-wing talking points on the subject.

“Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives voices,” Trump tweeted on Wednesday.

“We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen. We saw what they attempted to do, and failed, in 2016.”

Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives voices. We will strongly regulate, or close them down, before we can ever allow this to happen. We saw what they attempted to do, and failed, in 2016. We can’t let a more sophisticated version of that….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2020

“We can’t let a more sophisticated version of that happen again,” he said,

“Just like we can’t let large scale Mail-In Ballots take root in our Country. It would be a free for all on cheating, forgery and the theft of Ballots. Whoever cheated the most would win. Likewise, Social Media. Clean up your act, NOW!!!!”

Trump’s tweets are no doubt a response to Twitter’s decision to label his false claims about mail-in ballots so that users could get the facts. The President has repeatedly and falsely claimed that vote-by-mail leads to rampant voter fraud. It does not.

Shutting down social media sites would amount to gross censorship by the federal government.