Jack Dorsey reportedly reassured Trump that Twitter isn't deliberately deleting his followers, and said his follower count fell because the platform is purging bots and spam accounts
AP Images; Reuters
- Twitter founder Jack Dorsey told President Donald Trump that Twitter is not deliberately deleting his followers, The Washington Post reported.
- Instead Trump's follower count - roughly 60 million - might be going down because Twitter is deleting fake accounts and bots, Dorsey reportedly said.
- The discussion took over a large part of Trump's private meeting with Twitter executives on Tuesday, reports say.
- President Trump has a long history of accusing social media giants of political bias against conservatives.
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A large portion of President Donald Trump's closed door meeting with Twitter executives focused on his fears that the social platform might be deliberately deleting his followers, The Washington Post reported.
Twitter founder Jack Dorsey reassured Trump that his follower count of nearly 60 million is not going down because the social media company is deliberately deleting his followers, but is likely falling because Twitter tries to delete as many bots as possible, a source told The Washington Post.
Dorsey explained that follower counts fluctuate as the platform targets fake accounts, and that even he has lost followers during spam purges, The Washington Post reported.
//twitter.com/mims/statuses/1120793199650463747?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Great meeting this afternoon at the @WhiteHouse with @Jack from @Twitter. Lots of subjects discussed regarding their platform, and the world of social media in general. Look forward to keeping an open dialogue! pic.twitter.com/QnZi579eFb
The US president has a long history of accusing social media giants of political bias without providing evidence.
Shortly before Tuesday's private meeting, he tweeted that his follower count would be "much higher" than 100 million if Twitter wasn't "playing their political games." He added that Congress should intervene.
"They don't treat me well as a Republican," Trump said. "Very discriminatory."
Read more: Trump blasts Twitter as 'very discriminatory,' says the social-media company removes his followers
Trump has also accused Silicon Valley's top players of spreading "hatred" against "a certain group of people that happen to be in power, that happen to have won the election."
In November, he claimed that "Facebook, Twitter and Google are so biased toward the Dems it is ridiculous!"
Some critics believe the opposite, and feel Trump should have been banned for allegedly violating standards about harassment and abuse on the platform.
Twitter previously said that blocking world leaders like Trump would "not silence" him, but "hamper necessary discussion around their words and actions."
But it is now considering adding an explanatory note to high profile tweets that might be violating their rules, a Twitter official said at the Technology 202 Live forum.
The White House has not given any comment on Trump's meeting with Dorsey or his accusations against tech giants.
A Twitter spokesperson told Business Insider that the meeting revolved around the social platform's "commitment to protecting the health of the public conversation ahead of the 2020 U.S. elections." They also discussed ways to respond to the opioid crisis, Twitter said.
