No Facebook, Twitter at Trump's social media summit

Washington

FACEBOOK Inc and Twitter Inc haven't been invited to take part in a technology-focused meeting called by US President Donald Trump for Thursday at the White House, as the event shapes up to be a "social media summit" without social media.

Conservative tech critics and groups have already confirmed their attendance. The White House announced the summit on June 26, saying it would "bring together digital leaders for a robust conversation on the opportunities and challenges of today's online environment."

Facebook on Monday said it hadn't been invited to participate in the meeting, and a person familiar with the matter said Twitter also hadn't been asked to join.

Mr Trump has accused large technology platforms such as Alphabet Inc.'s Google, Facebook and Twitter of anti-conservative bias and last month said the US government should sue Facebook and Google for unspecified wrongdoing. Facebook runs the world's largest social network, as well as the Instagram photo-sharing and WhatsApp messaging apps, and Twitter's platform is one of Mr Trump's preferred ways of communicating directly with the public.

Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn, a frequent Google critic, and Republican Representative Matt Gaetz of Florida are scheduled to join conservative groups including The Heritage Foundation and Turning Point USA.

Other groups who have confirmed their attendance include PragerU, which produces online civics lessons with a conservative bent , and the Media Research Center, which criticises what it perceives as left-wing bias in mainstream journalism. BLOOMBERG