Twitter founder Jack Dorsey warns social media is draining people of free will

A remorseful Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter, worries people are becoming far too dependent on social media algorithms to shape how they think and act. — Bloomberg/Getty Images/The New York Times

If social media is the equivalent of a weapon of mass destruction, then Jack Dorsey would be a contender for the digital era’s Robert Oppenheimer.

Speaking at the 16th annual Oslo Freedom Forum on June 5, the remorseful Twitter cofounder expressed how conflicted he felt at his own creation born out of the noble ideals of open-source protocols before becoming corrupted by the realities of needing to survive in a competitive marketplace.