Trump Rails Against 'Terrible Bias'

President Trump

President Trump used a “Social Media Summit” at the White House Thursday to bond with some of his most provocative supporters over shared grievances against large technology companies whose representatives weren’t invited.

The Wall Street Journal reports Trump attacked social-media companies he says are trying to silence individuals and groups with right-leaning views, without presenting specific evidence. He said he was directing his administration to “explore all legislative and regulatory solutions to protect free speech and the free speech of all Americans.”

“Big Tech must not censor the voices of the American people,” Mr. Trump told a crowd of more than 100 allies who cheered him on. “This new technology is so important and it has to be used fairly.”

Social-media companies Facebook Inc., Twitter Inc. and Alphabet Inc., owner of Google and YouTube, weren’t invited to Thursday’s event and have declined to discuss it. The platforms have previously denied political bias plays a role in how they oversee content. Mr. Trump promised to host social-media companies at the White House during the next month.

The guest list for Thursday’s summit included Sebastian Gorka, a terrorism commentator and former White House adviser who left the administration after clashing with other national-security officials; James O’Keefe, the founder of the Project Veritas media group known for surreptitiously videotaping journalists; and Ali Alexander, an activist who recently said that Sen. Kamala Harris (D., Calif.) isn’t “an American black.”

#SocialMediaSummit @WhiteHouse pic.twitter.com/Z7tlvC3QUN

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 12, 2019

Trump thanked the crowd for “bypassing the corrupt establishment” and traditional media. Referring to social media bans or censored content, Mr. Trump said: “Some of you, I could almost understand” the need to restrict their posts, Mr. Trump said. “Some of you guys are out there…I mean, it’s genius, but it’s bad.”

The Internet Association, a trade group representing social-media and other internet companies, said in a statement ahead of Thursday’s event that its members have no incentive to be biased.

“Internet companies are not biased against any political ideology, and conservative voices in particular have used social media to great effect,” the group said in a statement. “Internet companies depend upon their users’ trust from across the political spectrum to grow and succeed.”

Several analysts doubted any concrete action would come of the summit, seeing it more as a way for Mr. Trump to fire up his base.