Twitter CEO Defends Trump Ban, Warns Of Dangerous Precedent

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey broke his silence with a Twitter thread defending his company’s ban of President Donald Trump as the right decision, but warned that it could set a dangerous precedent.

The ban, he said, revealed Twitter’s “failure” to create an open and healthy space for what Dorsey calls the “global public conversation.”

But the Twitter co-founder had little specific to say about how Twitter or other Big Tech companies could avoid such choices in the future.

I do not celebrate or feel pride in our having to ban @realDonaldTrump from Twitter, or how we got here. After a clear warning we’d take this action, we made a decision with the best information we had based on threats to physical safety both on and off Twitter. Was this correct?

— jack (@jack) January 14, 2021

That said, having to ban an account has real and significant ramifications. While there are clear and obvious exceptions, I feel a ban is a failure of ours ultimately to promote healthy conversation. And a time for us to reflect on our operations and the environment around us.

— jack (@jack) January 14, 2021

The check and accountability on this power has always been the fact that a service like Twitter is one small part of the larger public conversation happening across the internet. If folks do not agree with our rules and enforcement, they can simply go to another internet service.

— jack (@jack) January 14, 2021

This moment in time might call for this dynamic, but over the long term it will be destructive to the noble purpose and ideals of the open internet. A company making a business decision to moderate itself is different from a government removing access, yet can feel much the same.

— jack (@jack) January 14, 2021

Yes, we all need to look critically at inconsistencies of our policy and enforcement. Yes, we need to look at how our service might incentivize distraction and harm. Yes, we need more transparency in our moderation operations. All this can’t erode a free and open global internet.

— jack (@jack) January 14, 2021