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The
White House has repeatedly declined to say who will attend the
July 11 event. White House spokesman Judd Deere said last month
the meeting would "bring together digital leaders for a robust
conversation on the opportunities and challenges of today's
online environment." He said on Monday that Trump will speak at
the event.
Several conservatives on social media have said they are
attending the summit, including Bill Mitchell, a Trump supporter
who hosts an online show. At least two social media users posted
photos of an invitation to the summit that said it will take
place at 3 p.m. EDT (1900 GMT) on Thursday.
U.S. politicians, led by Trump, have increasingly used social
media to try to woo voters directly. Trump has said on many
occasions that he would not have been elected without Twitter <TWTR.N>
and Facebook.
But Republican Trump has regularly attacked Facebook and Twitter
as being "biased" in favor of Democrats, without offering
evidence. He suggested in a Fox Business Network interview last
month that Twitter made it "very hard for people to join me at
Twitter... and they make it very much harder for me to get out
the message."
In March, Trump tweeted that "Facebook, Google and Twitter, not
to mention the Corrupt Media, are sooo on the side of the
Radical Left Democrats. But fear not, we will win anyway, just
like we did before!"
All three companies have denied political bias.
When asked if it had been invited to Thursday's meeting, a
spokesman for Facebook said in an emailed reply that it had not.
Twitter declined to say on Monday if it had been invited to the
summit or would take part. Alphabet Inc's Google <GOOGL.O> unit
did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether
it had been invited.
In April, Trump met with Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey and
spent a significant time questioning him about why he had lost
some Twitter followers, a person briefed on the matter told
Reuters. With more than 61 million followers, Trump has one of
the most-followed accounts on Twitter.
(Reporting by David Shepardson, Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
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