Published 09:46 IST, January 14th 2021
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey reasons ban on Donald Trump; states US President had been warned
Jack Dorsey took to Twitter and explained why his platform decided to ban United States President Donald Trump from the microblogging site earlier this month
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Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has put out a long thread of tweets on Thursday to explain why his platform decided to ban United States President Donald Trump from the microblogging site. Dorsey said that does not celebrate or feel pride in banning the President but had to do so only after giving a clear warning. Earlier this month, Trump’s account was suspended over repeated violations of its rules. The crackdown had been gradual in the lead-up to the elections, starting with fact-checking, but intensified after Trump attempted to cast aspersions on the result. The final straw, however, only came after the US Capitol riot for which Trump's incendiary remarks have been blamed. The move is controversial, with reasons for this ranging from 'Why?' to 'Why only now?'
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
In the following tweets, he further explained, "I believe this was the right decision for Twitter. We faced an extraordinary and untenable circumstance, forcing us to focus all of our actions on public safety. Offline harm as a result of online speech is demonstrably real, and what drives our policy and enforcement above all. 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. Having to take these actions to fragment the public conversation. They divide us. They limit the potential for clarification, redemption, and learning. And sets a precedent I feel is dangerous: the power an individual or corporation has over a part of the global public conversation."
"The check and accountability on this power have 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. This concept was challenged last week when a number of foundational internet tool providers also decided not to host what they found dangerous. I do not believe this was coordinated. More likely: companies came to their own conclusions or were emboldened by the actions of others. 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. Yes, we all need to look critically at inconsistencies in 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," the Twitter chief added.
Twitter had permanently suspended US President Donald Trump’s account
On January 8, Twitter had permanently suspended outgoing US President Donald Trump’s account, followed by over 80 million people, over incitement of violence. The company had stated that after assessing the tweets in the context of a violent storming of the Capitol, it determined that Trump’s tweets violated the firm’s ‘Glorification of Violence’ policy and constituted immediate removal from the platform. The microblogging site had explained that due to the ongoing tensions in the US and uptick in the global conversation in regards to the people who stormed the Capitol building, the aforementioned tweets must be read in the context of broader events in the country and the ways in which the President’s statements can be mobilized by different audiences, including to incite violence, as well as in the context of the pattern of behavior from this account in recent weeks. Twitter said that refusal by Trump to attend the inauguration marked a rejection of a peaceful transfer of power and his tweet calling followers 'patriots' could be read as a glorification of the storming of the Capitol.
09:46 IST, January 14th 2021