Jointly besieging? Reddit and Twitch successively block Trump's social platform accounts

Major social media platforms such as Twitch, Reddit, and YouTube have recently taken drastic actions by blocking numerous well-known accounts on their platforms, including white supremacists, far-right extremists, and supporters of the US President Trump's forum. The official reason cited is to "combat hate speech and offensive content."

Reddit Bans Trump Supporters Subreddit

Reddit took the lead in banning the main subreddit "r/The_Donald," which had about 790,000 Trump supporters. CEO Steve Huffman pointed out that about 2,000 channels were banned earlier this week, with The_Donald being just one of them. In his announcement, he emphasized:

These channels have long been filled with hateful bullying and harassment speech. Despite our warnings and efforts to preserve a last bit of space for users, these channels remain indifferent. Users can express any political views on Reddit, but they must do so within our policy framework, without exception.

Twitch Bans Trump Directly

The Amazon-owned live streaming platform Twitch directly banned Trump's account, citing two events from the 2016 presidential campaign rallies as reasons. The first event was when Trump criticized Mexico for sending a bunch of "problem people," drug dealers, and rapists to the United States. The second event was at another rally where he described a tough guy breaking into a house illegally, insinuating that the tough guy was a Latin American immigrant.

Twitch claimed that both points violated the platform's community standards, leading to the decision to ban Trump's account. Twitch also emphasized that everyone, including politicians, must adhere to the terms of service and community rules, and action will be taken against any reported violations.

Youtube

Youtube also removed six channels, primarily white supremacists and far-right extremists, and has deleted over 25,000 channels violating hate speech policies since the global outbreak of COVID-19.

Coincidentally, these social media giants began massive cleanup actions around the same time.

In fact, Trump has clashed with major social media platforms since late May when Twitter labeled his tweets as "misleading." He signed an executive order claiming that social media platforms, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube, will be held accountable for their "content moderation" actions.

Additionally, the immigration policy tightening that took effect on the 24th will stop issuing work visas, which will have a significant impact on Silicon Valley startups. Tech giants like Google, Facebook, Amazon, and Microsoft will be unable to bring in foreign high-tech workers.

After the main campaign channels were banned, Trump's Twitter account did not post related tweets. However, Trump, who has always relied on social media platforms to interact with the public, is bound to take action in the future.