Snapchat will stop promoting President Trump’s account on its Discover platform, the company announced Wednesday, amid ongoing unrest in response to the unjust killing of Black Americans.
Snapchat parent company Snap said the decision comes in response to growing fears of Trump’s capacity to incite violence, with the company pointing to recent comments the president has made on Twitter in which he threatened to send “vicious dogs” and “ominous weapons” to combat nationwide protests seeking justice for George Floyd.
“We will not amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice by giving them free promotion on Discover,” a company spokeswoman said in a statement. “Racial violence and injustice have no place in our society and we stand together with all who seek peace, love, equality, and justice in America.”
Snap said Trump’s account would not be banned from the platform, but would no longer be promoted on its Discover platform alongside other accounts belonging to high-profile celebrities and public figures such as Kim Kardashian, Joe Biden and Andrew Cuomo.
“We will make it clear with our actions that there is no gray area when it comes to racism, violence and injustice,” Snap CEO Evan Spiegel said in a lengthy message posted on the Snapchat blog on Monday. “We simply cannot promote accounts in America that are linked to people who incite racial violence, whether they do so on or off our platform.”
The move comes as other social media platforms also begin to reconsider Trump’s voice and presence, notably Twitter, which is currently embroiled in a battle with the president after flagging two of his tweets as potentially misleading.
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