Donald Trump's campaign accused Snapchat of acting 'illegally' after the app said it would stop promoting the president's account
- Donald Trump's campaign issued a statement that accused Snapchat of "illegally using their corporate funding" to "rig the 2020 election," after the company announced it would no longer promote Trump's account in its Discover section.
- "We will not amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice by giving them free promotion," a Snap spokesperson said about the decision to remove Trump's account from Discover.
- Trump's campaign did not explain how the company's action against the president's account could have broken the law.
President Donald Trump's campaign issued a statement accusing Snapchat of "illegally using their corporate funding" to promote Joe Biden and rig the 2020 presidential election, after the social network announced it would stop promoting Trump's account.
In the statement, Trump's 2020 campaign manager, Brad Parscale, called Evan Spiegel the "radical Snapchat CEO" who would rather "promote extreme left riot videos and encourage their users to destroy America."
But the statement stopped short of any specifics on how Snapchat had acted illegally. It also did not elaborate on the "corporate funding" that the company was accused of using to supposedly promote Biden. The comment is especially strange given Snapchat is a public company.
Earlier today, Snapchat parent company Snap Inc. announced it would no longer promote Donald Trump's account in the Discover section of its app. However, Snap is not removing the account itself.
"We will not amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice by giving them free promotion on Discover," a Snap Inc. spokesperson told Business Insider. "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."
Joe Biden then posted a Snapchat video in response to the news, where he said, "I'm proud to be able to run for president and still be on Snapchat."
The move also puts more pressure on Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who is refusing to budge on his policy of not taking action on Donald Trump's posts, specifically a recent one containing the phrase "when the looting starts, the shooting starts," which Twitter flagged with a warning.
Read the statement from the Trump campaign in full:
"Snapchat is trying to rig the 2020 election, illegally using their corporate funding to promote Joe Biden and suppress President Trump. Radical Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel would rather promote extreme left riot videos and encourage their users to destroy America than share the positive words of unity, justice, and law and order from our President.
Snapchat hates that so many of their users watch the President content and so they are actively engaging in voter suppression. If you're a conservative, they do not want to hear from you, they do not want you to vote. They view you as a deplorable and they do not want you to exist on their platform."