upper waypoint

Social Media Giants Banned Trump, But They Still Have Lots of Problems

Save ArticleSave Article
Failed to save article

Please try again

In this photo illustration, a Twitter logo is displayed on a mobile phone with President Trump's Twitter page shown in the background on May 27, 2020, in Arlington, Virginia. - US President Donald Trump threatened Wednesday to shutter social media platforms after Twitter for the first time acted against his false tweets, prompting the enraged Republican to double down on unsubstantiated claims and conspiracy theories. Twitter tagged two of Trump's tweets in which he claimed that more mail-in voting would lead to what he called a "Rigged Election" this November. (Photo by Olivier DOULIERY / AFP) (Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY/AFP via Getty Images)

Silicon Valley giants like Facebook, Twitter and Google have long struggled to deal with violent language and misinformation on their platforms.

But after the attack on the U.S. Capitol last week, a line was crossed — and these companies banned or restricted President Trump, along with some of his supporters who have incited violence.

So what took these companies so long to take action? And how should we feel about their continued role in how we communicate?

Guest: Rachael Myrow, KQED Silicon Valley senior editor



Read the transcript here.

Sponsored

lower waypoint
next waypoint