Jack Dorsey: Twitter CEO says Trump’s ban was right, but has a ‘dangerous’ precedent

Jack Dorsey: Twitter CEO says Trump’s ban was right, but has a ‘dangerous’ precedent

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“I believe it was the right decision for Twitter,” Dorsey said in a series of 13 posts on its platform, referring to ‘extraordinary and unsustainable’ circumstances after Trump incited a riot at the US Capitol last week, an event that forced the social media venture to ‘focus all our actions on public safety’.

“I do not celebrate and do not feel proud that we should ban @realDonaldTrump from Twitter or how we got here,” Dorsey said. “Online damage as a result of online speech is demonstrably real, and that drives our policies and enforcement above all else.”

The last four years are Twitter (TWTR) was central to Trump’s presidency, a fact that also benefited the company in the form of countless hours of user engagement. Twitter has taken a light-hearted approach to moderating its bill and has often argued that Trump as a public official should have a wide range to speak of. But the riot at the Capitol led to a ban.

Dorsey wrestled with the implications of the decision in his posts, conceding that “the fact that an account should be banned has a material and significant consequence.” Deleting users, he says, fragments public discourse and divides people.

“While there are clear and obvious exceptions, I feel that a ban is a failure on our part to ultimately promote healthy conversations. And a time for us to reflect on our operations and the environment around us, he said.

The CEO also has similar actions from other social media companies, such as Facebook (FB) and Snapchat (SNAP), to ban the president. Dorsey said these actions are not coordinated, but they pose a challenge to the technology industry.

“The control and accountability of this power has always been the fact that a service like Twitter is a small part of the larger public conversation that takes place on the internet,” he said. “If people do not agree with our rules and enforcement, they can simply go to another internet service.”

The technology industry has used 'the core option' to curb violent groups organizing online

“This concept was challenged last week when a number of fundamental internet tool providers also decided not to host what they find dangerous,” he continued.

Amazon (AMZN) effectively killed Parler, a far-right platform, when he canceled his web hosting contract.

The decision to ban the president of Twitter had immediate consequences: Trump lost access to more than 88 million supporters, and the move exposed the company to censorship complaints from Republicans. Democrats have exploded the role of social media in enabling Trump and warned against new legislation to regulate the technology industry.

Dorsey suggested in his posts that the actions of the technology industry could also have longer-term consequences.

“This moment in time may demand this dynamic, but in the long run it will be destructive to the noble purpose and ideals of the open Internet. A business that makes a business decision to moderate itself is different from a government that has access removed, but can feel very much the same, ‘Dorsey said.

“Yes, we all need to look critically at discrepancies in our policies and enforcement. Yes, we need to look at how our service can spur distraction and damage. Yes, we need more transparency in our moderation. All of this can not erode.” a free and open global internet, ‘he added.

– Brian Fung reported.

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