Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey said Wednesday that blocking President Donald Trump was “a right decision forTwitter,” but acknowledged that the internet should not be controlled by a handful of private companies.
In a series of 13 tweets, Dorsey said online tweets and speech that leads to real-world damage requires action even if the account closure is divisive “and sets a precedent I feel is dangerous.” He wrote that if a company like Twitter makes a decision that people don’t like, they can go elsewhere and create a natural check on its power.
However, the ban on Trump across-the-board following Capitol’s violence has raised concerns.
“This concept was challenged last week when a number of foundational internet tool providers also decided not to host what they found dangerous,” Dorsey wrote. “I do not believe this was coordinated. More likely: companies came to their own conclusions or were emboldened by the actions of others.”
Companies That Took Action
Twitter and Facebook have taken Trump’s account down after last week’s violence at the Capitol, sparked by the President and his comments on social media. YouTube followed on Tuesday, removing Trump’s last major channel to reach tens of millions of his followers.
Currently, the Parler app, which is widely used by the pro-Trump crowd and conservatives, has been banned by Apple and Google due to violent content and poor control over ratings and content moderation. Amazon Web Services also barred its service access to Parler.
Dorsey said the inconsistent policies and lack of transparency undermine the efforts to create an open internet.
“The reason I have so much passion for #Bitcoin is largely because of the model it demonstrates: a foundational internet technology that is not controlled or influenced by any single individual or entity,” Dorsey wrote. “This is what the internet wants to be, and over time, more of it will be.”
He also referred to an announcement made in late 2019, in which Twitter said it was supporting (through funds and know-how) a small group called Bluesky to come up with an “an open decentralized standard for social media.” He said the project is now recruiting and will “fully carry out the work completely through public transparency.”
