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

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“I think that was the right decision for Twitter,” Dorsey said in a series of 13 publications on his platform, citing “extraordinary and unsustainable” circumstances after Trump incited a riot at the U.S. Capitol last week, an event that forced the social media company to “focus all our actions on public safety “.

“I don’t celebrate or feel proud to have banned @realDonaldTrump from Twitter or how we got here,” Dorsey said. “The damage offline as a result of online speech is demonstrably real and what drives our policy and our enforcement above all.”

For the past four years, Twitter (TWTR) it was pivotal to the Trump presidency, which also benefited the company in the form of countless hours of user participation. Twitter took a light-hearted approach to moderating its account, often arguing that, as a public official, Trump should be given plenty of leeway to speak out. But the riot at the Capitol provoked the ban.

Dorsey confronted the implications of the decision in his publications, admitting that “having to ban an account has real and significant ramifications.” He said removing users fragments public conversation and divides people.

“While there are clear and obvious exceptions, I feel the ban is a failure of ours ultimately, to promote healthy conversation. And it is a time to reflect on our operations and the environment around us,” he said. .

The CEO also addressed similar actions taken by other social media companies, such as Facebook (FB) i Snapchat (SNAP), ban the president. These actions were uncoordinated, Dorsey said, but they posed a challenge to the technology industry.

“Checking and accountability for 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 don’t agree with our rules and application, they can just go to another internet service.”

The technology industry used

“This concept was challenged last week when several basic internet tool providers also decided not to host what they found dangerous,” he continued.

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

The decision to ban the president from Twitter had immediate consequences: Trump lost access to more than 88 million followers and the move exposed the company to censorship complaints from Republicans. Democrats criticized the role of social media in empowering Trump and warned of new legislation to regulate the tech industry.

Dorsey suggested in his publications that the actions of the technology industry could also have long-term implications.

“This moment may require this dynamic, but in the long run it will be destructive to the noble purpose and ideals of the open internet. A company that decides to negotiate to moderate is different from a government that suppresses access, but can being the same, ”Dorsey said.

“Yes, we all need to look critically at the inconsistencies in our policy and enforcement. Yes, we need to look at how our service can encourage distraction and harm. Yes, we need more transparency in our moderation operations. All of this it cannot be eroded. a free and open global internet, “he added.

– Brian Fung contributed the information.

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