Politics - News Analysis

Trump Just Met with the CEO of Twitter … To Complain He’s Losing Too Many Followers

Donald Trump spoke with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey today and one of the first reports out on what they talked about says the issue of POTUS’ follower count was raised.

The Washington Post reports tonight that a “significant portion” of the conversation involved Trump talking about losing followers:

A significant portion of the meeting focused on Trump’s concerns that Twitter quietly, and deliberately, had removed some of his followers, according to a person with direct knowledge of the conversation who requested anonymity because it was private. Trump said he had heard from fellow conservatives who had lost followers as well.

But Twitter long has explained that follower figures fluctuate as the company takes action to remove fraudulent spam accounts. In the meeting, Dorsey stressed that point, noting even he had lost followers as part of Twitter’s work to enforce its policies, according to the source.

After the meeting, Trump tweeted out a photo and said, “Lots of subjects discussed regarding their platform, and the world of social media in general. Look forward to keeping an open dialogue!”

Trump however, said it was a great meeting:

Conservatives have been criticizing Twitter, arguing it discriminates against people on the right, who have said they are more likely to be punished by social media companies for their comments.

There’s little evidence to support the allegations that conservatives are being systemically suppressed, and social media companies have denied that politics play a role in their efforts to moderate their platforms.

Still, Trump and the rest of the GOP have repeatedly raised their grievances with tech leaders. Earlier this month, Facebook and Twitter both testified before a Senate Judiciary hearing on social media “censorship.”

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