Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s new app called “Threads” immediately began censoring users on the platform Thursday just hours after the official launch of the Twitter-rival.
Author Michael Shellenberger posted a photo of conservative commentator Rogan O’Handley’s brand new Threads account, DC_Draino, which was already being censored just hours after joining the app.
Threads warns users requesting to follow O’Handley, “This account has repeatedly posted false information that was reviewed by independent fact-checkers or went against our Community Guidelines.”
In a statement on Twitter, Shellenberger claimed that while the “founders of Threads” promised users a “better experience” than Elon Musk’s Twitter app, the platform is “censoring users and offering no avenue to appeal.”
Shellenberger argued that since the American people have given “broad legal liability protection” to social media platforms under Section 230, the American people should have “the right to appeal censorship” and “get full transparency.”
READ MORE: Facebook parent company Meta unveils new app to rival Twitter: WSJ
In response to Meta’s censoring of his profile on Threads, O’Handley tweeted about the platform’s censorship against conservatives, questioning, “Why does Meta treat 74+ million Americans like 2nd class citizens?”
Derek Utley, chairman of X Strategies LLC and Star Defense Industries, also shared that his profile had been censored on Thursday. Utley said he had been “informed my multiple users” about the censorship label on Threads, adding, “can’t a dude catch a break.”
Advertised as a text-based conversation app that allows users to publish posts with up to 500 characters, photos, videos and links, Threads is directly linked to Meta’s Instagram platform and is reportedly being released in 100 countries for both Android and Apple devices.
“The goal is to keep it friendly as it expands,” Zuckerberg said. “I think it’s possible and will ultimately be the key to its success. That’s one reason why Twitter never succeeded as much as I think it should have, and we want to do it differently.”
Zuckerberg previously stated his belief that there “should be a public conversations app with 1 billion+ people on it.” While he claimed Twitter had the “opportunity” to serve as that app, he expressed optimism that Threads can achieve that goal.
