Trump supporters, conspiracists shift to new social media sites

Former President Donald Trump was banned from major social media sites after the January 6 riot at the US Capitol.

Gab instead of Twitter, MeWe over Facebook, Telegram for messaging and Discord for insiders – banned from mainstream platforms, US conspiracy and supremacist movements, many of which support Donald Trump, have shifted to networks that are more confidential, and harder to regulate. “The most extreme Trump supporters were already on alternative platforms,” said Nick Backovic, a researcher at Logically.AI, a company specialising in digital disinformation. “The fact that Facebook and Twitter took so long to [ban them] allowed influencers to rebuild conversation and groups almost seamlessly.”