Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey testified remotely during the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing “Section 230 Sweeping Immunity allows Big Tech to misbehave” at the Capitol in Washington, DC, October 28, 2020.
Greg Nash | Pool | Reuters
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said on Wednesday that banning President Donald Trump was the “right decision for Twitter”, but admitted that the internet should not be controlled by a handful of private companies.
In a series of 13 tweets, Dorsey said that online speech that results in damage in the real world requires action, even if banning a divided account “and sets a precedent that I consider dangerous.” He wrote that if a company like Twitter makes a decision that people don’t like, they can go elsewhere, creating inherent control over their power.
However, Trump’s widespread bans after the Capitol rebellion raised his level of concern.
“This concept was challenged last week, when several key internet tool providers also decided not to host what they considered to be dangerous,” wrote Dorsey. “I don’t think this was coordinated. Most likely: the 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 on Capitol Hill, which was prompted by the president and his comments on social media. YouTube followed on Tuesday, removing Trump’s last significant online channel for reaching his tens of millions of followers.
Meanwhile, the Parler app, used largely by conservatives, has been banned by Apple and Google due to its violent content and insufficient moderation control. Amazon Web Services also took away Parler’s access.
Dorsey said inconsistent policies and a lack of transparency hamper efforts to create an open Internet.
“The reason I have such a passion for #Bitcoin it is largely because of the model it demonstrates: a basic Internet technology that is not controlled or influenced by any individual or entity, “wrote Dorsey.” This is what the Internet wants to be and, over time, more than that. “
He referred to an announcement in late 2019, when Twitter said it was funding a small team called Bluesky to propose “an open decentralized standard for social media”. He said the project is hiring now and “will do the job entirely through public transparency”.
TO WATCH: Twitter without Trump