Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey remotely testified during the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation’s Senate hearing, “Section 230’s Sweeping Immunity Enable Big Tech Bad Behavior,” at Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on October 28, 2020
Greg Nash | Swimming pool | Reuters
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said Wednesday that banning President Donald Trump was the “right decision for Twitter,” but admitted the Internet should not be controlled by a handful of private companies.
In a series of 13 tweets, Dorsey said online speech that causes harm in the real world requires action even if banning an account is divisive “and sets a precedent that I consider dangerous.” He wrote that if a company like Twitter makes a decision that people don’t like, it can go elsewhere, creating an inherent control of its power.
However, Trump’s general bans after the Capitol Uprising increased his level of concern.
“This concept was challenged last week when several basic Internet tool providers also decided not to host what they found dangerous,” Dorsey wrote. “I don’t think this has been coordinated. Most likely: companies came to their own conclusions or were encouraged by the actions of others.”
Twitter and Facebook withdrew Trump’s account after last week’s violence at the Capitol, which was incited by the president and his comments on social media. YouTube continued on Tuesday, removing Trump’s last significant online channel to reach his tens of millions of followers.
Meanwhile, the Parler app, used largely by conservatives, has been banned by Apple and Google due to violent content and poor moderation controls. Amazon Web Services also removed access to Parler.
Dorsey said inconsistent policies and a lack of transparency undermined efforts to create an open internet.
“The reason I have so much passion #Bitcoin it is largely due to the model it demonstrates: a fundamental internet technology that is not controlled or influenced by any individual or entity, “Dorsey wrote.” This is what the Internet wants to be and, over time, it will be more. “
He referred to an announcement in late 2019, when Twitter said it was funding a small team called Bluesky to reach “an open decentralized standard for social media.” He said the project is contracting now and “will do the job completely through public transparency.”
I’LL SEE: Twitter without Trump