Toni Anne Barson/FilmMagicSelena Gomez has broken her silence about why she publicly condemned Big Tech in the wake of the January 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol.
Speaking over the weekend to Apple Music's Zane Lowe, where she previously discussed her new Spanish-language single "De Una Vez," the 28-year-old explained she no longer cared about the potential consequences of calling out social media giants.
"I don’t care…It genuinely happened because it needed to," asserted Gomez, who said she started "reaching to people immediately, like directly" as pro-Trump protestors ransacked the Capitol.
"I wasn’t afraid to call out a Mark Zuckerberg or speak what I wanted to speak, because I could not handle what I was seeing," Gomez admitted, who believes her callout posts sparked positive change. "Already we’re getting progress, I can tell."
"I can’t stand the fact that people have to know that there are neo-Nazi groups online, and there are hate groups online, and misinformation, from U.S. voting to the COVID virus," continued the Spring Breakers star, adding, "they’re not allowed to do that. This is supposed to be a place where people share… their life. Not to create hate and to hurt people."
"I just think that it's necessary to call the people out who are responsible," she concluded.
After putting Instagram, Twitter, Google and Facebook on blast following the January 6 riot, Gomez expanded her criticism to YouTube.
The "Lose You to Love Me" singer on Saturday reacted to a report that claimed the popular video website was allowing domestic terrorists to collect live donations on videos that spread purported misinformation.
"I love @YouTube and put a music video on there the other day… how can this be happening?," Gomez tweeted. "I don’t want my fans or anyone to be funding hate or violence."
By Megan Stone
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