Twitter co-founder defends ban issued to Donald Trump

14 January 2021, 04:14

President Donald Trump
President Donald Trump. Picture: PA

The US president was suspended from the social media site.

Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey has defended the company’s ban of US President Donald Trump, but also warned of the dangerous precedent it sets.

The social media giant was one of many to put curbs on the president after violent clashes at the Capitol.

When Twitter called out Mr Trump’s incitement to violence, Mr Dorsey said the company faced an “extraordinary and untenable circumstance” with respect to public safety.

“I believe this was the right decision for Twitter,” Mr Dorsey wrote.

But such bans, he said, also point up Twitter’s “failure” to create an open and healthy space for what Mr Dorsey calls the “global public conversation”.

In effect, he suggested, taking extreme steps with public figures actions such as banning Mr Trump highlight the extraordinary power that companies like his can wield – and the collateral damage that such actions can lead to.

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

By Press Association

More Technology News

See more More Technology News

AI warning

Essays written with ChatGPT feature repetition of words and ideas – study

A broadband router

Big four broadband firms beaten by smaller rivals in latest Which? survey

A person pressing on the Tik Tok logo on the screen of a smartphone

TikTok to launch online election centres to counter misinformation

A person using a laptop

Up to eight million UK jobs at risk from AI, report says

Smartphone showing apps

One in six adolescents have experienced cyberbullying, global study finds

An Uber Eats driver

Uber Eats driver wins payout over discriminatory facial recognition checks

Rishi Sunak visits Cumbria

Sunak says UK ‘more robust’ on China than most allies

Chinese President state visit – Preparations

Minister calls China ‘security threat’ after UK and US blame Beijing for hacking

China

UK and US accuse China of ‘malicious’ global cyber attacks

A hand on a laptop

Tougher action needed to combat copycat banking websites, says Which?

Dowden

Dowden guarantees UK elections will be safe from Chinese cyber attacks

A woman’s hand pressing a key of a laptop keyboard

Cyber security agency says China behind ‘malicious’ cyber attacks on UK

A young girl uses the TikTok app on a smartphone

TikTok Youth Council holds first meetings on better online safety for teenagers

Margrethe Vestager

EU opens competition investigations into Apple, Google and Meta

Social Media Stock

Some parents coming to regard online harassment of girls as ‘normal’ – report

historisches Werbeplakat fuer den Spielfilm “Terminator Jugdement Day” mit Arnold Schwarzenegger, Berlin.

Hollywood has ‘helped to fan flames of fear about AI’, peers hear