Snap removes Trump account from curated promotional section

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Snap Inc said it would no longer promote U.S. President Donald Trump’s account in Snapchat’s Discover section, saying his inflammatory comments last week made the account ineligible for the curated section where users explore new content.

“We will not amplify voices who incite racial violence and injustice by giving them free promotion on Discover,” the company said in a statement.

“Racial violence and injustice have no place in our society and we stand together with all who seek peace, love, equality, and justice in America.”

Shares fell 2.4% after the announcement.

Trump’s Snapchat account, which consists mostly of campaign content and does not contain the informal rhetoric he regularly uses on his favored platform Twitter, will remain public and accessible to people who follow it or search for it, Snap said.

Twitter ignited a furor last week by placing labels on several of Trump’s tweets that it said violated its rules on misleading information and glorifying violence.

Facebook declined to take any action on the same posts, prompting an employee protest on Monday.

Chief Executive Evan Spiegel told staffers in a memo on Sunday that Snap would “walk the talk” on divisive content, noting that the Discover section is “a curated platform, where we decide what we promote.”

The company said its decision to remove the president’s content from Discover was made over the weekend.

Reporting by Katie Paul; Editing by David Gregorio

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