In a widespread Social media threadJack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter, stood on Wednesday on last week’s decision to ban President Trump from his company’s platform and Twitter. “
Twitter permanently banned Mr. Trump’s report on Saturday on “the risk of further incitement to violence” following the deadly siege US Capitol.
Dorsey said it was “the right decision” in his post on Wednesday.
“We were faced with an extraordinary and untenable circumstance that forced us to focus all of our actions on public safety,” he said. “Offline damage from online speech is demonstrably real and above all determines our policies and enforcement.”
However, Dorsey said the ban on accounts “has real and significant consequences.”
“Although there are clear and obvious exceptions, I consider a prohibition to be a failure of us to ultimately promote healthy conversation … Taking these measures fragments public conversation. They divide us. They limit the potential for clarification, salvation and learning. And sets a precedent that I consider dangerous: the power that an individual or company has over some part of global public conversation. “
He also said Twitter is only a small part of a larger conversation on the internet.
Dorsey said if people don’t agree with the rules of one platform and how those rules are enforced, “they can just go to another service”. That ability is limited, however, when events unfold like last week, when several seemingly uncoordinated social media websites censor Mr. Trump and others for allegedly inciting violence in Washington, DC.
“This moment may require this dynamic, but in the long run it will destroy the noble purpose and ideals of the open internet,” said Dorsey. “A company that makes a business decision to moderate itself is different from a government that removes access, but may feel similar.”
To counter this, Dorsey is working on a platform that can serve as “basic Internet technology that is not controlled or influenced by any single person or entity”.
For the time being, however, the global public discussion is the “best and most relevant” solution.
“Everything we learn right now will improve our efforts and push us to be who we are: a humanity that works together.”
Mr Trump spoke about censorship on social media in his first video message Wednesday after the House charged him on Jan. 6 of inciting riot “willfully inciting violence against the United States government”.
After condemning last week’s riots at the Capitol – without taking on the incitement for which he was charged – 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 blocked, and Facebook suspended his account for the remainder of his presidency. On Tuesday, Youtube Mr. Trump has been temporarily banned from uploading new content.
Meanwhile “freedom of speech” platform Parler was suspended from the Apple and Google app stores and eventually closed by Amazon Web Services for failing to moderate violent content. Several posts indicated that Trump supporters urged others to take part in a “millionaire militia march” on January 20 and “patriots” to bring their weapons to Washington.
Many people called for a second civil war because Mr Trump lost the election.
“These are tense and difficult times. Efforts to censor, cancel, and blacklist our fellow citizens are wrong and dangerous,” Trump said in the video posted on the White House Twitter account. “What we need now is that we listen to one another and not silence one another. We can all decide through our actions to rise above our rank and find common ground and common goals.”
