Twitter’s former CEO Jack Dorsey calls online attacks on ex-workers ‘dangerous’

Dorsey wrote in a blog post on Dec 13 that Twitter ultimately had too much power to make content decisions under his guidance. Users should have had more control over what they see online, and Twitter did a poor job building tools to handle that, he said. — AFP

Former Twitter Inc chief executive officer Jack Dorsey called recent online attacks on his former employees “dangerous” while taking the blame for controversial content decisions that the company made under his leadership.

Dorsey wrote in a blog post on Dec 13 that Twitter ultimately had too much power to make content decisions under his guidance. Users should have had more control over what they see online, and Twitter did a poor job building tools to handle that, he said. Dorsey added that he “completely gave up pushing for” those ideas after an activist investor showed up in early 2020.

“I no longer had hope of achieving any of it as a public company with no defense mechanisms (lack of dual-class shares being a key one),” he said. “I planned my exit at that moment knowing I was no longer right for the company.”

Twitter has drawn fire over the past week following a release of internal communications about moderation decisions, including the ban of former US President Donald Trump. The documents, dubbed by new owner Elon Musk as the “Twitter Files”, have been published by journalists that the billionaire brought into Twitter and gave what he called “unfettered” access.

People who are upset about the decisions have targeted Twitter employees who were involved in them.

“The current attacks on my former colleagues could be dangerous and doesn’t solve anything,” Dorsey said. “If you want to blame, direct it at me and my actions, or lack thereof.”

Dorsey defended the sale of Twitter to Musk, saying that taking the company private has given it the chance for a “fresh reset”. – Bloomberg