Banning Trump from Twitter sets 'dangerous' precedent, network boss Jack Dorsey says
Twitter founder and boss Jack Dorsey.
AP - Michael Reynolds
Text by: RFI Follow
5 mins
Twitter founder and boss Jack Dorsey believes that the decision to ban Donald Trump from the platform was "the right one" but nonetheless constitutes a "failure" and "sets a precedent" which he considers "dangerous" in relation to the power held by the large companies.
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“
I don't feel any pride that we had to ban @realDonaldTrump,
” Jack Dorsey tweeted on Wednesday.
In a series of messages, he returns to the social network's decision to indefinitely ban the outgoing president of the United States for having encouraged the violence of the Capitol.
It's a “
failure on our part to promote healthy conversation
,” he continued, and these kinds of measures “
divide us.
They limit the possibilities to explain, to redeem, to learn.
"
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
Twitter was the Republican billionaire's main communication tool, who used it on a daily basis to directly address his 88 million subscribers.
Donald Trump has also been suspended from Facebook, Snapchat, Twitch, and, since Tuesday, YouTube for a week.
Google's video platform faced increasing pressure from NGOs and personalities.
But Twitter's decision is by far the most iconic.
The ostracization of the American head of state has been welcomed by many elected officials, but it has also drawn criticism from associations and leaders, such as Chancellor Angela Merkel, worried about the power of technology companies.
"
It sets a precedent that I find dangerous: the power that an individual or a company has over part of the global public conversation
," admits Jack Dorsey in this introspective monologue.
► To read also:
Europe concerned about the ban of Donald Trump from social networks
Having to take these actions 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.
- jack (@jack) January 14, 2021
► To read also: Trump ousted from Twitter: French politicians do not approve
Purge
The balance of power was respected, underlines the boss of Twitter, as long as "
people could simply go on another service, if our rules and our application of the rules did not suit them
".
But “
this concept was challenged last week when a number of essential internet tool providers also decided not to host what they found dangerous.
I don't think it was coordinated.
More likely: Companies have come to their own conclusions or have been encouraged by the actions of others.
"
In addition to its flagship measure, Twitter deleted this weekend
70,000 accounts affiliated with QAnon, a pro-Trump conspiratorial movement
, involved in the invasion of the Capitol which disrupted the certification ceremony of Joe Biden's victory last Wednesday .
When Donald Trump tried Friday to respond to the suspension of his personal account via the official POTUS account (President of the United States), for the attention of the “
75 million patriots
” who voted for him, his messages were immediately removed by the social network.
►
See also: Impeachment procedure: Donald Trump indicted by Congress for the second time
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