As a part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s latest crusade promoting his misleading and misguided theories that social media companies are discriminating against conservatives, the White House is hosting a “social media summit” that will assemble several conservative voices.
Trump has been seething about social media since August 2018 when he first sent out a tweetstorm accusing social media of “totally discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices.”
In May, his administration launched a web portal encouraging his supporters to vent about being censored on social media.
Washington Post reported early Wednesday that presidential aides said the event planned for July 12 will bring together “digital leaders” for discussion about “opportunities and challenges of today’s online environment.”
The Post reports the invitees consist of “tech’s top conservative critics in politics and media” who champion the position of breaking up large tech companies (an idea that many prominent Republicans and Democrats support).
The Post revealed some of the organisations that were invited to attend the event – PragerU, the Heritage Foundation, the Media Research Center, and executive director of Turning Point USA Charlie Kirk.
PragerU chief marketing officer Craig Strazzeri told the Post that his organisation was invited to the White House because of its lawsuit against Google, which claims YouTube censored PragerU because it prevented viewers who use restrictive mode from watching its videos about guns and Islam.
As Daily Beat reporter Will Sommer pointed out, Laura Loomer seems to be very disappointed that she was not invited, despite her various stunts to denounce social media companies that have banned her.
Laura Loomer didn’t get an invite to the White House social media summit, and she’s not happy about it. pic.twitter.com/B5uxcBHk4B
— Will Sommer (@willsommer) July 2, 2019
Conservative social media shitposters Carpe Donktum and mad-liberals shared what appear to be invites from the White House, but it’s unclear if these invites are real or not. Bill Mitchell, one of Trump’s most outspoken supporters on social media, tweeted that he will be attending.
I will be attending the White House Social Media Summit on July 11th, 2019 in Washington, DC. I thank President Trump for the honor of this private invitation.
I will stand up for all of you there. We are #MAGANation and we will not be silenced! pic.twitter.com/vRtghUgRyw
— Bill Mitchell (@mitchellvii) July 2, 2019
Mitchel has spoken openly about his belief in QAnon, a deep state conspiracy theory, on his program Your Voice America, in case you had any doubt that this strange gathering of internet luminaries will be rife with misguided conspiracy theories.