Kamala Harris: Social media companies will be held 'accountable' for 'hate infiltrating their platforms'

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) is pledging to take action against social media platforms that allow for the spread of hate speech.

The 2020 Democratic presidential candidate at a recent NAACP event said she will "hold social media platforms accountable for the hate infiltrating their platforms because they have a responsibility to help fight against this threat to our democracy," The Hill reports.

Harris went on to pledge her administration would double the civil rights division at the Department of Justice, saying that "if you profit off of hate, if you act as a megaphone for misinformation or cyber warfare, if you don’t police your platforms, we are going to hold you accountable."

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The spread of hate and misinformation on social media may be a key issue during the 2020 election cycle. Harris spoke a few days after Facebook and Instagram permanently banned a number of extremist figures who they said promoted "violence and hate" and were determined to be "dangerous." This step was welcomed by critics who have argued Facebook has not done nearly enough to crack down on extremism.

But the company's decision was slammed by President Trump, who has repeatedly accused social media companies of censoring conservatives, privately voicing this complaint during a meeting with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Trump tweeted after the Facebook bans were announced, "I am continuing to monitor the censorship of AMERICAN CITIZENS on social media platforms. This is the United States of America — and we have what's known as FREEDOM OF SPEECH!"