Trump accuses Twitter of gagging conservatives

(FILES) In this file photo taken on May 09, 2019, US President Donald Trump speaks during event on ending surprise medical billing at the White House in Washington, DC. - President Donald Trump on Monday, May 13, 2019 warned China not to retaliate after Washington raised punitive duties on $200 billion worth of Chinese imports to 25 percent from 10 percent. "China should not retaliate-will only get worse!" Trump wrote in a flurry of tweets on trade. The tariffs were imposed on Friday, May 10, 2019 after two days of talks to resolve the US-China trade battle ended with no deal, however negotiations will continue. Trump also addressed Chinese President Xi Jinping and warned that companies would leave China if a trade deal was not reached. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP)

Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP

US President Donald Trump took to Twitter once again Sunday to accuse the messaging platform of gagging conservative voices — a “Giant Mistake!” that he said runs counter to freedom of expression.

“Twitter should let the banned Conservative Voices back onto their platform, without restriction,” he wrote.

“It’s called Freedom of Speech, remember. You are making a Giant Mistake!”

Twitter, and other social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube, have recently moved to block personalities accused of inciting violence, and using the platforms to promote anti-Semitism, racism and conspiracy theories.

The decisions were taken under pressure from critics who think the social networks are not acting quickly enough to remove shocking or problematic material.

Those banished by one or more of the platforms include Alex Jones, a notorious purveyor of conspiracy theories toward whom Trump has expressed sympathy in the past, and Paul Nehlen, a white supremacist who ran unsuccessfully in Republican primaries for a US congressional seat.

It’s not the first time the US president has accused Twitter, Facebook or Google of discriminating against right-wing users.

The Republican billionaire, whose Twitter account is followed by nearly 61 million people, regularly attacks the high-tech giants as politically biased or, as he put it in a recent tweet, “sooo on the side of the Radical Left Democrats.”

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