Jack Dorsey apologises for his Twitter moderation, claiming he’s done the wrong things for the internet’ and society’. However, at the time he said his decisions were right things’.

Jack Dorsey admitted that he made mistakes running Twitter following Elon Musk’s repeated criticisms of its previous content moderation policies. Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images
Jack Dorsey stated in a blog that he is the sole responsible for Twitter’s content-related problems. He also condemned criticisms of his former colleagues. Dorsey, Twitter’s CEO, said that he made Twitter do the “wrong things for society and the internet.”

Jack Dorsey, the former CEO of Twitter, commented on Tuesday’s revelations in the “Twitter Files.” He said that he had led the social media platform to do “the wrong thing for society and the internet” under his leadership.

This post was Dorsey’s first thoughts on “principles” about social media. He believed that (1) social platforms must be “resilient to corporate and government control,” (2) only the original author can remove content they create, and (3) moderation is best implemented through algorithmic choice.

“The Twitter I ran and the Twitter we have today don’t meet any of these principles.” This is my fault alone,” Dorsey wrote. He said that he “gave up pushing” for the principles after an unnamed activist entered stock in 2020.

The New York Times reported that Elliott Management, an activist hedge fund, had bought a $1B stake in Twitter in 2015 and called for Dorsey to be fired. However, it is not clear if Dorsey was referring specifically to the company.

Dorsey wrote that he thinks social media companies have too much power. Twitter’s decision to ban ex-President Donald Trump under his leadership was an example of that excess power.

Dorsey stated, “As we’ve said before, we did what was right for the public company business at that time, but not for the internet or society.”

The “Twitter Files”, which provide some insight into content moderation practices at the social media giant under Dorsey’s leadership, have been revealed by emails and internal documents that Musk released to independent journalists such as Matt Taibbi or Bari Weiss.

The “Twitter Files”, which include back-and-forth conversations between employees discussing whether to ban Trump from inciting violence after the January 6 attack at the Capitol, are proof that the platform limited the reach for Hunter Biden’s NY Post story and acknowledgement that both the Biden campaign as well as the Trump administration have requested the removal of content from Twitter.

Although some of the Twitter Files contained additional information and internal discussion about the platform’s content moderation practices, many policy decisions surrounding Trump’s ban and their rationale had been previously reported or acknowledged by Dorsey in his 2020 statement to Congress or congressional testimony after January 6.

The Twitter Files revealed a lot of content that has prompted backlash against Yoel Roth (ex-head of trust and safety at Twitter). Musk posted a section of a paper that he had written, and he appeared to support a teen-friendly Grindr version for young queer adults. He also agreed with other tweets calling Roth “creep.”

According to reports, the threats that Dorsey condemned in his post, but did not address Musk’s behavior have become so severe that Roth had to flee his home because he was afraid for his safety.

Dorsey wrote that “the current attacks against my former colleagues could prove dangerous and doesn’t solve any problems.” “If you are looking for blame, then direct it at me, and my actions or lack thereof.

Dorsey, who was laid off by Musk in large numbers, has since apologized. He said that he had grown “the company too quickly” and that he regretted closing down Vine, his video clip platform. He also agreed with Musk’s decision not to reverse Trump’s ban on Twitter, calling it a “business decision”. Dorsey admitted that he was partly to blame for “really damag[ing]” the internet in April.

His most recent apologies contrast with his original statement banning Trump and saying that it was “the right choice” and his 2021 congressional testimony, in which he admitted “some” responsibility for misinformation on Twitter that contributed the attack on the Capitol on January 6. However, “the wider ecosystem” had to be taken into consideration, not just Twitter.

In 2006, when he co-founded Twitter, Dorsey’s approach towards content moderation was seen to be pro-free speech. The company “had to” be “dragged” into moderation, J.M. Insider was told by Berger, a researcher about extremism on social networks like Twitter.

Berger explained to Insider that “Because Jack Dorsey has personal views on freedom of speech, and whatever his sympathies may be ideologically, Twitter had been dragged — kick and screaming — into content moderation age.” “So Twitter was the last of the three major platforms to implement any type of robust moderation.”

Musk has criticized Dorsey’s controversial decisions while trying to moderate Twitter content. These include banning Trump and censoring the Hunter Biden Laptop Story. Musk, who criticized Dorsey’s approach to content moderation, has taken a stricter approach to “free speech absolutism”, and reduced content moderation since his acquisition.

Berger said that Twitter’s content moderation practices have changed significantly since Elon took over. He also stated that he believes that the billionaire is intentionally empowering right-wing extremists.

Insider reached out to Musk, Dorsey and Twitter representatives but they did not respond immediately.

Business Insider has the original article.
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By: ktangalakislippert@insider.com (Katherine Tangalakis-Lippert,Hannah Getahun)
Title: Jack Dorsey apologizes for his Twitter moderation choices, saying he did the ‘wrong thing for the internet and society’ despite calling his decisions the ‘right thing’ at the time
Sourced From: www.businessinsider.com/jack-dorsey-twitter-wrong-thing-for-the-internet-and-society-2022-12
Published Date: Wed, 14 Dec 2022 04:42:56 +0000