Mark Zuckerberg’s newest social media platform has a brand new high-profile person: The President of the USA.
After Elon Musk endorsed an antisemitic conspiracy idea on X, his social media platform previously generally known as Twitter, the White Home criticized his “unacceptable” feedback.
“We condemn this abhorrent promotion of antisemitic and racist hate within the strongest phrases,” mentioned White Home spokesperson Andrew Bates in a press release on Friday.
On Monday, President Joe Biden seemingly took one other step in condemning Musk’s feedback: Biden joined X’s closest competitor, Threads.
“People, it is President Biden,” the official @POTUS account printed on Nov. 20 in its first put up on Threads. “You are listening to from me at the moment from a brand new platform, however my message to you hasn’t modified: Proper now, we face an inflection level – a kind of difficult moments in historical past the place the choices we make at the moment will decide many years to return. However I do not see a darkish, dismal, divided future for America. I see an America about to take off. I will proceed doing every little thing in my energy to fulfill this second – and hold you posted alongside the best way.
The White Home has not given any official purpose as to why Biden has chosen now to hitch Threads, which is owned by Fb’s guardian firm, Meta, and intently built-in with Instagram. Threads launched in July and gained 100 million customers in only a matter of days as social media aficionados appeared for a Musk-less Twitter various. The platform has struggled to maintain all these customers energetic however has continued to develop with a devoted userbase within the tens of hundreds of thousands.
Nevertheless, the timing is attention-grabbing. Main advertisers have fled X in latest days, following the blowback from Musk’s feedback surrounding the antisemitic conspiracy idea that he promoted. Additionally, polls have proven Biden lagging behind Donald Trump amongst key demographics as we head into the 2024 presidential election season. Considered one of Biden’s greatest challenges has been his assist of Israel’s army marketing campaign in Gaza in opposition to Hamas, which many teams reminiscent of younger voters and the Democratic base disagree with.
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If the latter was one in every of White Home’s calculations in having Biden be a part of Threads, it would not appear to be going that effectively. Inside minutes of Biden’s first put up on the platform, the replies have already full of customers demanding a ceasefire and posting “Free Palestine” and different phrases of assist for the Palestinian folks.