A SOCIAL MEDIA EVOL

We look at how Donald Trump has pledged to work alongside the technology giants and what this means for the industry and social media users alike

CREDIT : TIERNEY L . CROSS VIA GETTY IMAGES

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Donald Trump has been speaking with big tech about US growth

VOICE & DATA

Trump is US President for a second time. Despite a four-year gap in between terms, his administration is already hitting the ground running with significant overhauls, particularly within the technology industry. Ahead of his inauguration in January 2025, Trump’s net worth soared to US$7bn.

The business mogul and US President has been continually meeting with big tech companies and investors like DAMAC Properties to discuss how they can support the new administration.

Already, billion-dollar investments have been confirmed with a range of organisations, including DAMAC, which pledged US$20bn to support nationwide data centre growth.

Likewise, CEOs of Apple, OpenAI, Meta, SoftBank and Amazon expressed congratulations to Trump on his election victory, with many even donating to and attending his inauguration ceremony.

It looks like technology and politics have never been more intertwined, with some technology companies perhaps hoping for greater support or assistance with AI. Although unclear, the next four years are shaping up to be transformative.

Trump 2.0: The story so far In the past, Trump has accused Meta and Google of being biased against conservative viewpoints on social media. He has also been openly critical of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which offers legal

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immunity to online platforms for user-posted content.

He has argued that this would allow social media companies to censor conservative voices without consequence.

One of the biggest stories to come out of 2024 was the Biden Administration moving to ban TikTok. The decision, originally set to be enacted a day ahead of Trump’s return to office, meant that US-based users would likely lose access to TikTok.

Speaking at the time, Technology Partner at Cripps, Matthew Holman, advocated against the ban, arguing it would increase barriers to international relations.

“The ban is another challenge to the previously uninhibited global internet ecosystem,” he said. “Two decades ago, social media platforms were born into a world where any company, based anywhere, could create a platform about almost anything.

“Now social media companies wield as much wealth, power and influence as nation states and are also perceived as agents of the territory they are deemed to serve.”

As yet, the ban has not been upheld, but Trump signed an executive order in January to give ByteDance a 75 day grace period to comply with a law that requires a sale or ban of the platform.

Meta and misinformation One such company seeking to work closely with the Trump Administration is Meta. The tech giant hit the ground

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The TikTok ban was one of the biggest stories to come out of 2024

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