A lot has changed in the world of social media since the 6 January 2021 riots in the United States, when over 1,000 intruders broke into the Capitol building in Washington DC, damaging property and assaulting people. Twitter (now X, owned by Elon Musk), Meta and Google-owned YouTube have all rescinded bans on former US President Donald J. Trump.
Now that Trump is running for president again, social media platforms are faced with a dilemma: They have a legal obligation to provide a safe experience for all users, but at the same time, they are expected to provide a platform for the former president that is not overly regulated or restricted compared to his political opponents.
Related article: Elon Musk donates ‘significant’ amount to Trump campaign ahead of 2024 US presidential election
With this principle in mind, tech companies have been preparing their networks and updating their policies for months. Here’s a look at how some social media platforms are adapting to Trump 2.0.
Comparing President Trump’s social media following across platforms | Photo credit: Data provided by social media companies and compiled by Canva/Sahana Venugopal
X (formerly Twitter)
During his time as US president, Trump was a frequent user of Twitter, where he would rant about US politics, urge people to vote for his side, claim voter fraud, and express his views on a host of hot-button topics in strong, general terms, often without any evidence.
Twitter took issue with two tweets from Trump on January 8, 2021. In one, Trump referred to his voters, calling them “American patriots” and promising that their voices would continue to be heard in the future. In the other, Trump said he would not attend the inauguration on January 20, 2021.
“We evaluated the two Tweets above under our Glorification of Violence policy, which aims to prevent glorification of violence that may inspire others to emulate violent acts, and determined that these Tweets likely encouraged and inspire others to emulate the criminal acts that occurred at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021,” Twitter said, permanently suspending his account.
Trump initially said he would not rejoin X, but changed his position after Musk formally endorsed him as a presidential candidate and pledged his support.
In August, Musk invited Trump onto the platform to talk, but the conversation was halted within 20 minutes due to a technical glitch that Musk claimed was the result of a cyberattack.
“Unfortunately, we were subjected to a massive distributed denial of service attack against our servers,” Musk said, adding, “As this massive attack shows, there are many who are opposed to even listening to President Trump.” […]”
As of August 2024, Trump’s X account has just under 90 million followers. Trump posts election-related material promoting himself and insulting Vice President Kamala Harris. As of late September, the number of followers has increased to 91 million.
He also shared a morphed video of him dancing with Musk, as well as a morphed image of a Harris-like figure standing in front of a crowd waving red flags under a banner featuring the communist hammer and sickle symbol.
Fake photo of Harris posted by Trump on X | Photo credits: Donald Trump, X
No rebuttal was made to the post, which has been viewed more than 70 million times.
Trump’s return to X would be economically beneficial for the platform, which allows members to further monetize and earn revenue through impressions and engagement on their posts. But for such a model to work, X requires verified accounts to interact with as many (other verified) users as possible.
With Musk’s approval, X is now Trump’s playground.
Meta
In 2021, Mehta indefinitely suspended his Facebook and Instagram accounts after then-U.S. President Trump praised those who committed violent acts at the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
But Meta is gradually removing the “enhanced suspension” it imposed on Trump after the riot. Still, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company said the former president must follow their community standards like all other users and that they have put in place “new guardrails” to prevent any further violations.
“In assessing our responsibility to permit political expression, we believe the American people should be able to hear from presidential candidates with the same standards,” Mehta said in a statement explaining his decision.
As of the end of August, President Trump had 34 million followers on Facebook and 26.2 million on Instagram, but the “Team Trump” account on the thread had about 286,000 followers.
The Trump-Musk connection has also been significant on other platforms, with Trump expressing support for Musk’s electric vehicle ambitions and saying the Tesla CEO could take on a permanent role if he were to become president again.
Trump and Musk’s relationship is visible on social media platforms | Photo credit: Donald Trump’s Instagram
A collaborative Reel posted to Instagram by the verified account @realdonaldtrump and his team shows the former president sitting inside the vehicle and being briefed on its features, with the caption: “POV: You’re riding in the Cybertruck with President @realDonaldTrump.”
In another video posted in late August, Trump said, “Kamala will put violent illegal immigrants and convicted felons back on the streets,” a post that received more than 100,000 likes without any rebuttal or context.
He also posted a deepfake on Instagram.
While Meta as an organization has taken a cautious stance on Trump, the same can’t be said for CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who publicly praised the former president after the assassination attempt this summer, calling his response “incredible,” raising questions about his political allegiance.
Additionally, Trump claims that Zuckerberg, who previously called the Facebook platform “the enemy of the people,” called him after the assassination attempt to offer his political support and apologize for Mehta’s media response to the shooting.
However, Meta’s Andy Stone denied the rumors that Zuckerberg was endorsing Trump, posting on X in early August: “Mark has already made it public that, as with previous elections, he is not endorsing either candidate.”
TikTok
Trump joined the video-sharing app in June and quickly gained about 10.6 million followers by the end of August. TikTok has about 170 million users in the United States and is popular with younger generations. Trump’s content on the platform is not easily viewable in India because it is blocked there.
President Trump appears to have changed his stance on TikTok | Photo Credit: Donald Trump on TikTok
President Trump has previously opposed TikTok and even tried to ban the app a few years ago, but he appears to have changed his tune: He believes TikTok is preventing Facebook from growing out of control.
Google and YouTube
Trump had 3.15 million subscribers and just over 4,000 videos on YouTube at the end of August. Most of his videos are promotional or targeting Harris. He has a smaller following on YouTube than he does on his own platform, Truth Social.
In January 2021, YouTube suspended Trump’s account and banned him from uploading content for at least seven days, the BBC reported. The restriction lasted for several months. But Trump has now regained posting privileges and is posting one or several videos per week, including footage from his election campaign and provocatively titled videos criticizing his rivals.
“Biden’s Sad and Pathetic Attempt to Copy Trump’s Bodega Visit Was a Comical Fail” was the title of one such video posted on April 25 this year. Comments on his videos, which had previously been restricted, have also been reinstated.
Elon Musk of X also claimed that Google had “banned” Trump, which Google said was a technical anomaly related to its search autocomplete feature, CBS News reported in July.
Meanwhile, Trump himself has said he believes Google will be shut down, claiming it is “very bad” and “very irresponsible”.
The truth of society
The social media platform, known for hosting right-wing and far-right communities in the US, was launched by President Trump. The app was founded in 2022, the same year the former president also joined.
Trump frequently insults Harris on Truth Social | Photo credit: Donald Trump on Truth Social
Although he had fewer than 8 million followers on the app as of late August, he had free reign to post blatantly false information and spread doctored media, including a deepfake of Taylor Swift, claiming to be an American singer saying she wanted people to vote for Trump. The former president’s response to the post was presented as if it were an official endorsement.
Swift later acknowledged that a deepfake of her had been used fraudulently to endorse Harris.
Trump uses deepfake of Taylor Swift on Truth Social | Photo credit: Donald Trump on Truth Social
In essence
While Trump has been relatively careful about his online behavior compared to his presidency, there’s no denying that he has made a furious return to social media — but he will be returning to a vastly changed digital environment.
X, eviscerated by layoffs and cost-cutting measures, is now a free playground for Nazis, racists, transphobes and those spreading AI deepfakes, while Meta has made it clear it is moving away from politics and hard news on its platform, while Truth Social is a lawless zone for the former president and his most ardent supporters, while Google has come under intense scrutiny in court for alleged market monopoly.
Now, reunited with tens of millions of followers across platforms and emboldened by his growing popularity, Trump is spreading misinformation and reshaping the media with few restrictions or penalties.
Published – 25 September 2024 8:29 AM IST