Published 15:17 IST, February 26th 2021
Twitter CEO Dorsey admits 'people don't trust us'; eyes doubling company's revenue by 2023
The statement by Dorsey comes after the spat between the Indian govt and Twitter. The govt alleged that certain messages incited violence during farmers protest
Social networking giant Twitter's CEO Jack Dorsey sent out a strong message on Friday and said that most social media entities are experiencing a 'significant trust deficit' as he pointed at the lack of transparency Twitter has' that has led to distrust from many of its users. Twitter intends to give people more control to moderate their interactions so 'a marketplace approach to relevant algorithms' can be enabled through which an open-source social media standard can be funded — so accountability, reliability, and choice will be of utmost importance.
"We agree many people don't trust us. This has never been more pronounced than in the last few years. And we aren't alone, every institution is experiencing a significant trust deficit," he acknowledged. The statement by Dorsey comes after the spat between the Indian government and Twitter over the farmers' protests, where the Indian authorities saw certain messages as the driving force for the violence in the country.
The Indian government had then issued certain regulations for social media giants Twitter and WhatsApp under which they were asked to exclude any inflammatory content flagged by the authorities, within 26 hours. They were also asked to set up a 'complaint redressal mechanism' that will be managed by an officer based in India. The government also asked Twitter to remove around 1,500 accounts and messages and Twitter complied with the request, though only briefly.
However, now the CEO is determined to double Twitter's total revenue to USD 7.5 billion by 2023, with doubling the number of features per employee that 'directly drive the mDAU (monetisation daily active users) or revenue. We have a goal of at least 315 million mDAU in the fourth quarter of 2023, which requires continued compounding growth at about 20 percent per year from the base of 152 million mDAU we reported in the fourth quarter of 2019,' PTI quoted Dorsey.
He also aims to boost Twitter's market share with 'performance ads, enhanced brand advertising, and by approaching small and medium businesses around the world'.
It has to be noted that Google and Facebook have complied with the Australian government to pay the news outlets in the country, for publishing news on their respective websites. At such a time, Dorsey's statement to take up the stakes of Twitter is a big development.
Updated 15:17 IST, February 26th 2021