Meta's Threads app already facing backlash for 'silencing' conservatives days after launch
Meta also includes a message warning users when they follow certain accounts, including Donald Trump, Jr.
Meta’s ‘Threads’ is a ‘smart and incremental’ step by Meta: Mark Mahaney
Evercore ISI senior managing director Mark Mahaney joined ‘Varney & Co.’ to survey the markets and discuss Meta’s latest app ‘Threads,’ which is intended to compete with Twitter.
Social media giant Meta’s new "Twitter killer" Threads app is already facing backlash for appearing to censor conservative users, just days after its launch.
Meta’s new app that aims to take over parts of Twitter’s microblog market share hit the digital bazaar this week, garnering millions of signups shortly after launch.
It didn’t take long, though, for the new Meta platform to get accusations of censorship from conservatives.
TWITTER CEO SAYS PLATFORM’S COMMUNITY ‘CAN NEVER BE DUPLICATED’ AFTER META ROLLS OUT THREADS
Meta's new app, Threads. (AP Photo/Richard Drew / AP Newsroom)
"I posted a meme about Twitter being better than Threads, and they removed it after ONE MINUTE for ‘incitement to violence,’" conservative commentator Ashley St. Clair tweeted with four laughing emojis.
St. Clair included a screenshot of her Threads post that whad been removed for "going against" the platform’s "guidelines on violence and incitement."
"Stating facts is ‘hate speech’ on Threads," popular conservative account Libs of TikTok tweeted, also including a screenshot of her removal message.
Libs of TikTok’s post stating "Non-binary isn’t real" was removed by Threads under the platform’s "hate speech or symbols" guidelines.
On Thursday afternoon, if a user tried to follow former President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., they were hit with a message asking them whether they were sure they want to follow the former president’s progeny.
"Are you sure you want to follow [Trump, Jr.]?" the message read. "This account has repeatedly posted false information that was reviewed by independent fact-checkers or went against our Community Guidelines."
A Meta spokesperson pointed FOX Business to Meta communications director Andy Stone's response to Trump, Jr. Thursday evening, saying the message "was an error and shouldn’t have happened" and that it had been "fixed."
The spokesperson also told FOX Business that St. Clair's and Libs of TikTok's posts were live, but did not respond to follow-up questions as to whether the posts had first been flagged or removed and then restored.
Mike Davis, president of the Internet Accountability Project, said this "censorship on Day One from Threads isn’t surprising given Meta’s anti-free speech history."
"Mark Zuckerberg's businesses have a track record of silencing and de-platforming conservatives and conservative speech, so this was all too predictable," Davis said. "That’s why competition is so important—so consumers have options."
Additionally, if a user tried to follow former President Trump’s son, Donald Trump Jr., they are hit with a message asking them whether they were sure they want to follow the former president’s progeny. (Getty Images / Getty Images)
Threads is only the latest social media application to be accused of censoring conservative voices.
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Even after Musk’s takeover, Twitter still bears the black mark it earned by censoring the Hunter Biden laptop story ahead of the 2020 presidential election.
Facebook also throttled the sharing of the laptop story, and LinkedIn was also accused of censorship by GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy after the platform locked him out of his account for several days.
The post that Ramaswamy said his account had been locked over had criticized President Biden on China and climate change.