Something was going on with Jack Dorsey on Thursday, and it wasn’t just the scene of his video call. While Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg and Alphabet and Google boss Sundar Pichai were witnessing to Congress in tasteful surroundings in a home office, the Twitter CEO, with his now-common wild beard and nose ring, appeared to be in your kitchen. He had a watch showing the prices of various cryptocurrencies (if you were wondering what it was, what many people went)
The hour-long hearing, the first with these CEOs since the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, aimed to interrogate how social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube contribute to radicalization, affect children and amplify misinformation. But from the beginning, members of the Chamber’s Energy and Commerce Committee tried to identify their witnesses with yes or no questions. Unsurprisingly, CEOs tried not to comply, often trying to explain in detail why a particular issue was complicated until a representative interrupted them to ask, again, “yes or no?” This pattern was repeated indefinitely.
Although Dorsey was recognized early for being the just CEO to answer “yes” to a question about the role of social media in the attack on Capitol – he said that Twitter had some responsibility – there were many questions that he struggled not to answer directly. Notably, when Democratic Rep. Bobby Rush of Illinois urged Dorsey to answer whether Twitter had completed a Twitter civil rights audit – yes or no – Dorsey said, “We chose a different approach.”
The representatives quickly became frustrated. “Let me say something, and I find it irritating for all of us. And that is, no one seems to know the word ‘yes’ or the word ‘no’, ”said Democratic Congresswoman Anna Eshoo of California. Republican Representative Billy Long of Missouri also asked, “Do you know the difference between those two words, ‘yes’ and ‘no’?” to which Dorsey replied, “Yes, I know the difference.” And then the CEO of Twitter joined Twitter. The tweet had a single question mark and a poll: yes or no?
Then, as he faced the online courtroom, Dorsey began to like relevant and random tweets: mentions of his encrypted clock, an image of a San Francisco intersection and praise for his ability to tweet while witnessing. At the beginning of the hearing, Dorsey used his opening comments to discuss Twitter’s idea of a “decentralized open source protocol” that was supposed to solve some of the current problems with social media. When a Twitter user pointed out that it would be “incredible” if members of Congress questioned him about it, Dorsey tweeted, “agreed.”
In the perfect climax to Dorsey’s sneaky tweet, Democratic Congresswoman Kathleen Rice of New York caught him for posting on the digital booth. “Mr. Dorsey, what are you getting, ‘yes’ or ‘no’ in your Twitter account poll?” Rice asked, raising his eyebrows, before questioning. “Yes,” Dorsey replied coldly. “Hm, your skills multitasking are quite impressive, ”concluded Rice. Dorsey continued to like and respond to tweets during the audience, which lasted almost six hours. Which of the tasks before him was getting Dorsey’s attention? yea.
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