Trump warns Google, Facebook and Twitter to ‘be careful’ over search results
Trump’s allegations, dismissed by online search experts, follow the president’s August 24 claim that social media ‘giants’ are “silencing millions of people”
US President Donald Trump warned that Alphabet’s Google, Facebook and Twitter “better be careful” after he accused the search engine earlier in the day of rigging results to give preference to negative news stories about him.
Trump told reporters in the Oval Office Tuesday that the three technology companies “are treading on very, very troubled territory,” as he added his voice to a growing chorus of conservatives who claim internet companies favour liberal viewpoints.
“This is a very serious situation-will be addressed!” Trump said in a tweet earlier Tuesday. The President’s comments came the morning after a Fox Business TV segment that said Google favoured liberal news outlets in search results about Trump. Trump provided no substantiation for his claim.
“Google search results for ‘Trump News’ shows only the viewing/reporting of Fake New Media. In other words, they have it RIGGED, for me & others, so that almost all stories & news is BAD,” Trump said. “Republican/Conservative & Fair Media is shut out.”
Trump’s re-election campaign also texted his tweets to supporters, writing as part of an end-of-month fundraising push that “The FAKE NEWS machine is completely out of control.”