Topline
Former President Donald Trump urged his supporters to “go after Meta and Google” after the companies acknowledged unintended moderation errors on content related to the assassination attempt against Trump—fueling unfounded accusations on the right that big tech companies are working against Republicans to elect Democrats.
Former President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Herb Brooks National Hockey Center on July … [+]
Key Facts
Right-wing social media users, including Donald Trump Jr., Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, and the “End Wokeness” X account, in addition to X owner Elon Musk, amplified accusations that Google purposely blocked search terms related to the assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump from auto-populating in its search bar.
“Big Tech is trying to interfere in the election AGAIN to help Kamala Harris,” Trump Jr. tweeted, reposting another user’s tweet that included a screenshot of the names that auto populate after typing “assassination attempt on” into the search bar, including “Reagan . . . Bob Marley . . . Lenin . . . Gerald Ford” and more, though Trump’s is not among those suggested by the search engine.
Google acknowledged the issue in a statement to Fox Business, telling the outlet’s “systems have protections against Autocomplete predictions associated with political violence, which were working as intended prior to” the July 13 assassination attempt against Trump.
Facebook also admitted to “an error” related to content surrounding the assassination attempt against Trump, writing Monday on X that a fact check note suggesting the photo of Trump raising his fist after he was shot and escorted off stage by Secret Service had been altered was mistakenly added to the real photo.
The note was “initially applied to a doctored photo showing the secret service agents smiling, and in some cases our systems incorrectly applied that fact check to the real photo,” Meta spokesperson Dani Lever wrote.
Trump on Tuesday accused both Meta and Google of “another attempt at RIGGING THE ELECTION!!!” in a Truth Social post, urging his supporters to “GO AFTER META AND GOOGLE. LET THEM KNOW WE ARE ALL WISE TO THEM, WILL BE MUCH TOUGHER THIS TIME.”
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Key Background
Big tech companies have struggled to limit misinformation without prompting accusations of bias, leading the right in particular to accuse social media companies of unfairly censoring content to benefit Democratic candidates. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter blocked Trump’s accounts in the wake of Jan. 6, 2021, to prevent him from making baseless accusations that the 2020 election was stolen from him—false claims that encouraged his supporters to storm the Capitol as Congress was in the process of certifying President Joe Biden’s electoral college win. Meta reinstated Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in January 2023. X owner Elon Musk restored Trump’s Twitter account in 2022 after purchasing the company, and he has since developed an alliance with Trump as his politics have veered increasingly to the right. Musk has endorsed Trump’s latest campaign and reportedly told associates in private he would donate $45 million a month to a pro-Trump super PAC, then publicly denied promising the funding.
Surprising Fact
Trump has posted just once to his Twitter account since January 2021: an August 2023 photo of his mug shot in his Georgia election interference case with a link to his campaign website. He regularly uses Facebook and Instagram.
Tangent
Authorities have said they have yet to identify a motive in the July 13 shooting at Trump’s Pennsylvania rally that left one bystander dead, and Trump and two other attendees injured. The FBI on Tuesday said it believes to have linked the 20-year-old gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was shot by a Secret Service sniper, to an account featuring “antisemitic and anti-immigration themes to espouse political violence.” Crooks, a registered Republican who has donated to a Democratic organization, had searched for information on Trump and details of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy prior to the shooting, officials have said.
Further Reading
Trump Vows More Outdoor Rallies Even After Assassination Attempt (Forbes)
Here’s What To Know About The House Panel Investigating Trump Assassination Attempt (Forbes)
2022 midterms, 2024 presidential campaign, the January 6 House committee investigation, former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s historic ouster, the 2023 State of the Union Address, former President Donald Trump’s federal election interference and classified documents cases and his Manhattan hush money case. Dorn graduated in 2012 from the University of Dayton with a degree in journalism. Prior to joining Forbes, she covered New York City and state politics for the New York Post and City and State magazine. Follow her for updates and analysis on the 2024 presidential race, key Senate and House races and developments in Congress and at the White House.
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