Snapchat joined Twitter on Wednesday to lessen the echo of messages from Donald Trump, who "incite racial violence" in a country where hundreds of thousands have marched for 10 days against violence against the black minority.
The social network, very popular with young people of generation Z, announced that it would no longer promote messages from the American president, even if they remain visible to subscribers to his account and appear when a user searches. specific.
"We are not going to amplify voices that incite racial violence and injustice by promoting them for free on Discover", the network's news feed where users can find news, recommendations and publications media or well-known personalities, the company said.
Trump campaign accuses Snapchat of wanting to "rig" the election
Snapchat joins Twitter, which provoked the ire of the President of the United States last week, by putting warnings on the messages it sends to its more than 81 million subscribers. One concerned electoral fraud, which Twitter considered to be misinformation, and the other could suggest that the president was calling for the looting of looters. The two networks, however, chose not to ban Donald Trump entirely.
The latter took very badly the initiatives of Twitter, taking advantage of his audience on the network to denounce what he perceives as censorship and a confirmation of a bias from the left and anti-Republican party. The presidential campaign for his re-election also quickly published a press release accusing Snapchat of wanting to "rig" the November 3 poll.
"Snapchat extremist CEO Evan Spiegel prefers to promote videos of far-left riots and encourage users to destroy America rather than share the positive message of unity, justice, law and order of the president ", accuses the campaign. "Racial violence and injustice have no place in society and we stand in solidarity with all those who seek peace, love, equality and justice in America," said Snapchat in an email to l 'AFP.
To remain silent is to act "in favor of those who do evil"
Over the weekend, Evan Spiegel had sent a long letter to employees of Snap, the network's parent company, to condemn what he saw as the perpetuation of racial injustice in America. "Every minute we are silent in the face of evil and injustice, we act on behalf of those who do evil," he wrote.
Unlike Twitter or now Snapchat, Facebook, the world's leading social network, has chosen not to flag or censor the President's messages in any way. A decision assumed by Mark Zuckerberg, the director and founder of Facebook, but criticized very publicly by some of his employees, some having preferred to resign than to continue working for the company.
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