In a widely shared thread on social mediaTwitter CEO Jack Dorsey stood on Wednesday at last week’s decision to ban President Trump from his company’s platform, saying it was something he’s not “ proud of or proud of, ” but something that was decided based on threats to physical security both on and off Twitter. ”
Twitter Permanently Banned Mr Trump’s report on Saturday over “the risk of further incitement to violence” in the wake of the deadly siege of the Capitol.
Dorsey said it was “the right decision” in his post Wednesday.
“We were faced with an extraordinary and unsustainable circumstance, which forced us to focus all our actions on public safety,” he said. “Offline damage from online speech is arguably real, and what drives our policies and enforcement.”
However, Dorsey said the banning of accounts has “real and significant consequences.”
“While there are clear and obvious exceptions, I think a ban is a failure on our part to ultimately promote healthy conversation … Taking these actions fragment the public conversation. They divide us. the potential for clarification, redemption and learning. And sets a precedent that I think is dangerous: the power an individual or company has over any part of the global public conversation.
He also said Twitter is just a small part of a larger conversation on the Internet.
Dorsey said that if people disagree with the rules of one platform and the enforcement of those rules, “they can just go to another service.” But that ability is limited when events unfold like last week, when multiple social media sites, seemingly uncoordinated, censored Mr. Trump and others who allegedly incite violence in Washington, DC.
“This moment in time may call for this dynamic, but in the long run it will be destructive to the noble purpose and ideals of the open Internet,” said Dorsey. “A company making a business decision to moderate itself is different from a government revoking access, but it can feel the same way.”
To help combat this, Dorsey said he is working on a platform that can serve as “a fundamental Internet technology that is not controlled or influenced by any single individual or entity.”
For now, however, he said that global public conversation is the “best and most relevant” solution.
“Everything we learn right now will enhance our effort and drive us to be what we are: one humanity working together.”
Trump spoke in his first video message on social media censorship on Wednesday after the House accused him on January 6 of instigating insurgency for “willfully inciting violence against the United States government.”
After condemning last week’s Capitol riots – without taking ownership of the incitement for which he was deposed – Mr Trump spoke of the “unprecedented attack on freedom of speech we have seen in recent days.”
Shortly after the riots, Twitter Mr. Trump’s personal account permanently suspended, and Facebook suspended his account for the remainder of his presidency. On Tuesday, YouTube has temporarily banned Mr. Trump from uploading new content.
Meanwhile, “free speech” platform To speak was suspended from Apple and Google app stores and eventually closed by Amazon Web Services for failing to moderate content that incited violence. Several posts showed Trump supporters calling on others to join a “million militia march” on January 20, and for “patriots” to take their weapons to Washington.
Many people called for a second civil war because Trump lost the election.
“These are exciting and troubled times. The attempts to censor, cancel and blacklist our fellow citizens are wrong and dangerous,” Trump said in the video, posted to the White House Twitter account. . “What is needed now is that we listen to each other, not silence each other. We can all choose through our actions to rise above the rankings and find common ground and common purpose.”