Trump Threatens Big Tech in Latest Tweet - Get Out the Vote

Recent criticism leveled against major technology companies by Senate Republicans appears to be strategically timed for electoral gain, a point underscored by President Trump’s release of a video message aimed at voters. In this message, the President characterizes “big tech” as potentially overly influential and asserts the need for these companies to be “addressed,” and possibly further regulated.

The underlying implication is that supporting President Trump equates to advocating for the dismantling of companies like Facebook, Google, and Twitter.

The video highlights the Department of Justice’s antitrust lawsuit against Google, concluding with a call for his supporters to actively participate in the upcoming 2020 US presidential election. Thus, the President is utilizing an anti-big tech narrative as a key component of his broader political strategy in the days leading up to the election.

“I’ve been consistently hearing about the considerable power wielded by big tech, whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, Google, or others,” he states in the video, before briefly referencing his 2016 election victory and asserting that he prevailed despite these “powerful” platforms allegedly being “against me” – a claim that overlooks Facebook’s role in allowing the widespread dissemination of anti-Clinton, pro-Trump propaganda originating from Russia.

He then contends that these platforms have amplified their influence to a “new level,” alleging they are “suppressing the corruption of Joe Biden” by “withholding stories.”

This is a clear reference to Trump’s Democratic opponent and an indirect allusion to a contentious New York Post article concerning emails reportedly recovered from a laptop belonging to Hunter Biden – an article that has raised concerns about potential election-related disinformation.

A significant difference this time is that “big tech” is now more attuned to the potential damage to their reputations should they be seen as enabling another instance of election interference.

Consequently, both Facebook and Twitter restricted the distribution of the Post’s article.

Twitter initially blocked links to the story, citing its policy regarding hacked materials, although this policy was later revised following accusations of “censorship” from Republicans. CEO Jack Dorsey faced extensive questioning on this matter during yesterday’s Senate hearing, where Republican senators attempted to elicit soundbites supporting claims of “anti-conservative bias & censorship” within big tech.

The technology executives were largely compelled to endure criticism, as it would be politically unfavorable for them to suggest that Republicans might be subject to more content moderation than liberals due to violations of established guidelines. The politically motivated proceedings continued for several hours.

President Trump is now reinforcing the narrative generated during this contentious exchange by attempting to transform allegations of anti-conservative bias into a direct “get out the vote” message for his supporters.

“Big tech needs to be addressed and may, in some form, need to be stopped,” represents the closest he comes to articulating a concrete policy proposal. Therefore, Trump supporters should not anticipate that he will actually pursue the breakup of Facebook and similar companies.

The inherent contradictions are notable, considering evidence suggests that social media algorithms inherently favor the spread of sensational and provocative content over more measured and factual information. The tendency for users to engage with sensational content, coupled with the advertising-based revenue model of these platforms, has demonstrably benefited the dissemination of misinformation.

This, in turn, often results in these “big tech” platforms amplifying Republican messaging – particularly the style favored by President Trump, characterized by unsubstantiated claims and a disregard for factual accuracy. (For example, Trump’s assertions regarding Mexican immigrants or his claims about the pandemic’s conclusion, despite ongoing fatalities, or his claim of immunity to COVID-19 despite the lack of scientific consensus on long-term immunity and the occurrence of reinfections.)

The extent of the unsubstantiated claims propagated by Trump’s Republican party is substantial. However, the current political climate is far removed from conventional norms.

As of this writing, Twitter has not appended any contextual labeling to President Trump’s tweet, despite the video’s content potentially containing misinformation regarding big tech itself. This represents yet another layer of irony in the situation.

Furthermore, if one feels sympathy for the tech CEOs caught in this partisan conflict, it’s important to remember that they created this situation by proclaiming adherence to community and content policies that they have not – and continue not to – consistently enforce. This ultimately positions President Trump as a consequence of their own actions.