Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has maintained his position that there was no political motivation behind his company’s decisions, even after the shocking revelations in the “Twitter files” released by his successor, Elon Musk.
“There’s been a lot of chatter around #TwitterFiles. Here’s my thoughts and ideas on how to fix the issues that have been identified,” Dorsey began his newsletter on Tuesday. “I’m starting with the principles I believe in… based on everything I’ve learned and experienced in my past efforts as a co-founder and leader of Twitter: Social media should be resilient to corporate and government control. The original author may remove the content they created. Moderation is best done through algorithmic selection.”
“Twitter when I ran it and Twitter today doesn’t fit any of those principles,” Dorsey admitted. “It’s only my fault, because in 2020, when activists entered our campaign, I completely abandoned their support. As a public company with no defense mechanisms, I had no hope of achieving this… At that point, I knew I was no longer the right fit for the company.”
Dorsey said Twitter’s “biggest mistake” as CEO was investing in “building tools to manage the public conversation” instead of “building tools for the people who use Twitter to easily manage it for themselves,” and that “it was a burden on the company as well.” said. a lot of power” and “opened us up to significant external pressure”.
TURN ON TWITTER FILES: JACK DORSEY UNDER OATH IS GRANTED TWITTER WILL NOT CENSOR, NOT ‘BAN SHADOW’ CONSERVATIVES
Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey remains silent on the “Twitter files” but avoids addressing the specific revelations in Matt Taibbi and Barry Weiss’ viral posts. (Photo by Joe Raedl/Getty Images)
(Photo by Joe Raedl/Getty Images)
As for former President Trump’s permanent suspension, which was overturned by Musk, Dorsey said, “We did the right thing for the business of a public company at the time, but we did the wrong thing for the internet and the community.” kidded.
“I continue to believe that there was no malice or ulterior motive and that everyone acted according to the best information available at the time,” Dorsey wrote. “Of course mistakes have been made. But if we focus more on tools for the people who use the service than tools for ourselves, and if we move more quickly towards absolute transparency, maybe we need a reset.” (I support that). Again, I own all of this and our actions, and all I can do is try to fix it.”
FORMER NYT COLUMNIST DOWNLOADS TWITTER FILES ON MEDIA: ‘LESS INTERESTING’ ON FACEBOOK PAGES INCREASINGLY.
He condemned efforts by the government and large corporations to “shape and control the public conversation” and said tweeters should delete their posts.
“I still want Twitter and every company to be uncomfortably transparent about their actions, and I want to force it years ahead of time. I believe absolute transparency builds trust,” Dorsey wrote. “As for the files, I would like them to be published Wikileaks-style, with more eyes and interpretations to be considered. And at the same time, transparency obligations for current and future actions. I hope that all this will happen. Nothing .To cover up… just a lot to learn. The current attacks on my former colleagues can be dangerous and won’t solve anything. If you want to blame, direct it at me and my actions or not .”
Dorsey refrained from addressing any specific revelations reported by independent journalists Matt Taibbi and Barry Weiss. However, as Weiss pointed out last week, Twitter’s censorship efforts seem to directly contradict what Dorsey told lawmakers under oath during a 2018 congressional hearing.
Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey will testify before Congress in 2018.
(Reuters/Chris Wattie/File Photo)
In an exchange with Rep. Mike Doyle, D-Penn., Dorsey was asked if Twitter “censors” its users.
“I’m going to read some quotes about Twitter’s practices and I want you to tell me if they’re true or not,” Doyle said of the exchange. “Social media is being rigged to censor conservatives. Is this true of Twitter?”
“No,” Dorsey replied.
“Are you censoring people?” Doyle asked.
“No,” Dorsey replied.
“Prominent Republicans banning Twitter’s shadow … is that right?” Doyle followed.
“No,” said Dorsey.
A message from Weiss suggests otherwise.
“A new #TwitterFiles investigation revealed that teams of Twitter employees create blacklists, prevent inappropriate tweets from trending, and actively limit the visibility of entire accounts or even trending topics — all secretly, without notifying users,” Weiss began his thread on Thursday.
MATT TAIBBY OF THE WASHINGTON POST HAS OBTAINED A SECRET REDACTED REPORT CALLING BARRY WEISS A “CONSERVATIVE.”
Weiss pointed to Stanford University’s Dr. Jay Bhattacharyya, who has argued against lockdowns during the pandemic, challenging the long-held thinking of the COVID group.
“Twitter secretly put him on the Trending Blacklist, which prevented his tweets from trending,” Weiss said.
Barry Weiss, editor of The Free Press and host of the Halal podcast, speaks at the 2022 Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California, May 3, 2022.
(REUTERS/Mike Blake)
Fox News host Dan Bongino has a “Search Blacklist” and Twitter has Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA on “Do Not Amplify,” according to a Free Press editor.
According to Weiss, the term “shadow-banning,” which describes the covert suppression of the presence of Twitter users, was referred to by Twitter executives and employees as “Visibility Filtering,” or “VF.”
Internal reports also show Twitter staff admitting that popular Libs account TikTok has never violated its “hateful conduct” policy, despite being penalized several times.
GOP lawmakers, who will take control of the House next month, are increasingly calling for current and former Twitter employees, including Dorsey, to testify about censorship practices at the tech giant before Musk took over.