Presidential Free Speech Summit: Trump accuses social medial firms of treating him unfairly

President Trump says Twitter meddles with his follower count

President Trump has accused major tech firms of treating him and his supporters in an unfair and biased manner.

Addressing the "Presidential Social Media Summit" in the East Room of the White House on Thursday, Trump said: "We're not going to be silenced," as he accused social media companies Facebook, Twitter and Google of "terrible bias" against him.

"Big tech must not censor the voices," he added.

President Trump didn't, however, provide any evidence in support of his allegation that big tech firms have been trying undermine Republicans in the country. In the past, Trump has accused Twitter of meddling with this follower count, although the company has already clarified that users with huge followings on the platform may see fluctuations in their follower count as it removes spam accounts from the platform.

Trump's free speech summit was attended by several renowned conservative social media personalities, including Ali Alexander, Jim Hoft, Lisa Rose, and singer Joy Villa, according to Reuters.

Lawmakers such as Senator Marsha Blackburn and Rep. Matt Gaetz, who have accused Twitter of curbing the reach of their tweets, were also present at the event, in addition to several members of Trump's cabinet and his White House team.

In this address, Trump also stated that he had directed his officials to work on new legislations and regulations to help protect free speech.

In March, he signed an executive order making it mandatory for the US universities and colleges to maintain "free speech" on campus if they want to receive research funds from the Federal government.

Trump said that he would soon convene a meeting in the White House to discuss the issue with major social media firms.

Responding to Trump's statements, the Internet Association - a trade group representing big tech companies like Twitter, Facebook, and Google - said that internet companies are not biased against any political ideology and that social media has been used to "great effect" in the past by conservative voices.

In a separate tweet on Thursday, Trump criticised Facebook for its plan to launch Libra digital coin next year.

"I am not a fan of Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies, which are not money, and whose value is highly volatile and based on thin air," Trump tweeted.

He said that companies planning to introduce digital curries must seek a "new Banking Charter" and become subject to the US and international regulations, as other banks do.

Last month, Facebook announced its plan to launch a global cryptocurrency, called Libra, in 2020. The social media giant is leading 28 other firms, including PayPal, Mastercard, and Uber Technologies, to create the Libra Association that will manage the operations of new digital currency. No bank is currently part of the group.