US President Donald Trump has welcomed prominent conservative social media provocateurs to the White House and said that along with himself, they are being treated unfairly by big tech firms, which he says suppress conservative voices.

Key points: Donald Trump complained that online platforms silence conservative voices

Donald Trump complained that online platforms silence conservative voices The President said he would look to further protect free speech, currently enshrined in the constitution

The President said he would look to further protect free speech, currently enshrined in the constitution Democrats criticised Mr Trump for inviting trolls and conspiracy theorists to the White House

Mr Trump said he has told his administration to look for regulations and legislation that could protect free speech — though he did not provide details on what measures were being discussed — and said he would summon major social firms to the White House for talks in coming weeks.

"We're not going to be silenced," Mr Trump said at the meeting, complaining about fluctuations in the number of his Twitter followers.

"Big tech must not censor the voices."

Freedom of speech is enshrined in the First Amendment of the US Constitution.

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Mr Trump, who regularly lashes out at the mainstream news media for their work which he brands as "fake news," made social media a key part of his 2016 run for office as well as his 2020 re-election campaign.

But he and other Republicans have long claimed that online platforms employ tactics to silence their voices, allegations that major social media companies have denied.

Dozens of pro-Trump online personalities convened in the stately East Room to discuss what they say is censorship on social media platforms, rubbing elbows with several members of Trump's cabinet and his White House team, and his son Donald Trump Jr.

Who was there?

Amid the sea of suits, several red Trump campaign hats and rubber bracelets popped out.

Singer Joy Villa, who describes herself as a conservative activist, wore a flamboyant stars-and-stripes formal gown.

Joy Angela Villa, who goes by the stage name "Princess Joy Villa", criticised the White House press corps as she left the event. ( Reuters: Kevin Lamarque )

Mr Trump called to the stage Lila Rose, an anti-abortion activist who has been blocked from Pinterest and California lawyer Harmeet Dhillon, who has represented conservatives in free-speech lawsuits.

Lila Rose is the founder of Live Action, a group that was banned from Pinterest for spreading misinformation and conspiracies. ( Reuters: Carlos Barria )

Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson, sisters and video bloggers better known as Diamond and Silk, were also there. They sat in the crowd next to Mr Trump's re-election campaign staffer Kimberly Guilfoyle and her boyfriend Donald Trump Jr.

Lynnette Hardaway and Rochelle Richardson (aka Diamond and Silk) sit next to Trump re-election campaign staffer Kimberly Guilfoyle and her boyfriend Donald Trump Jr. ( Reuters: Carlos Barria )

Carpe Donktum, a pro-Trump online persona who was recently suspended by Twitter for eight days over a video depicting Mr Trump as a cowboy attacking CNN journalist Jim Acosta, said the face-to-face event could unite online conservatives.

Right-wing online activist Ali Alexander, whose controversial tweet about Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris was retweeted by Donald Trump Jr. ( Reuters: Carlos Barria )

What did they talk about?

In freewheeling remarks that bounced from one topic to another — not unlike his Twitter feed followed by more than 61 million people — Mr Trump talked about the power of social media and railed against the traditional media standing at the back of the room.

"We hardly do press releases anymore," the President said. "If I put it out on social media, it's like an explosion."

Mr Trump acknowledged criticism about the online behaviour of some conservative users of social media.

"Some of you guys are out there — but even you should have a voice," he said.

"The crap you think of is unbelievable," he said. "I mean it's genius — but it's bad."

'The President has invited trolls to the White House'

More than once Mr Trump has threatened to take action on the issue of free speech.

In March he signed an executive order requiring US colleges and universities to maintain "free speech" on campus if they want to continue receiving federal research funds.

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 8 minutes 49 seconds 8 m The battle for free speech on campus

Then last September he suggested that the license of television network NBC could be challenged over its news reporting.

Senator Mark Warner, a Democrat, said that instead of focusing on "combating Russian social media misinformation, punishing anti-competitive practices, or protecting Americans' data and privacy, the president has invited trolls, conspiracy theorists, anti-Semites, and the whole comments section to the White House".

Mr Trump said he might invite some of the conservative social media users back to the White House for the meeting with major social media firms.

Facebook Inc, Twitter Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google declined to comment on that announcement.

The Internet Association, a trade group representing major tech firms like Facebook, Twitter and Google, said: "Internet companies are not biased against any political ideology, and conservative voices in particular have used social media to great effect".

Reuters