Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey has apologized for his moderation of contents on the social media platform saying he did “the wrong thing for the internet and society.”
Dorsey in a blog post on Tuesday said that his decisions were however “the right thing for the public company business at the time.”
His comments came as Twitter’s content moderations in the past were brought to the public domain via the release of Twitter Files which revealed how the platform suppressed New York Post’s Hunter Biden’s laptop story towards the US 2020 presidential election and the banning of President Trump despite him not violating Twitter’s policies.
The files were released by Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk to independent journalists including Matt Taibbi and Bari Weiss.
“The biggest mistake I made was continuing to invest in building tools for us to manage the public conversation, versus building tools for the people using Twitter to easily manage it for themselves,” Dorsey wrote.
He went on to say that that social media “companies have become far too powerful, and that became completely clear to me with our suspension of Trump’s account.”
If you want to blame, direct it at me and my actions, or lack thereof,” he added.
Dorsey’s latest apology contradicts his initial statement on banning Trump from Twitter. At the time, he said it was “the right decision.” Also, in his 2021 testimony to the US congress, he acknowledged “some” responsibility for misinformation spreading on Twitter that contributed to the January 6 attack on the Capitol, but “the broader ecosystem,” not just Twitter, had to be considered.
In his Tuesday’s apology, Dorsey went on to say that “governments want to shape and control the public conversation, and will use every method at their disposal to do so, including the media. And the power a corporation wields to do the same is only growing.
“It’s critical that the people have tools to resist this, and that those tools are ultimately owned by the people. Allowing a government or a few corporations to own the public conversation is a path towards centralized control.”
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
