Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has taken full responsibility for the social media platform’s many failings — admitting he “completely gave up” pushing back against powerful activists in the company, reports New York Post.
Behind-the-scenes maneuvers buckling to political pressure
The site’s former CEO took full “blame” in a blog giving his “take” on the “Twitter Files,” which have exposed a series of extraordinary behind-the-scenes maneuvers buckling to political pressure, starting with censoring The Post’s exclusive exposes on Hunter Biden’s laptop.
He now believes that Twitter should have stuck to three core principles, including keeping the company out of controlling posts and algorithms spreading them — and being “resilient to corporate and government control.”
“The Twitter when I led it and the Twitter of today do not meet any of these principles,” Dorsey admitted.
“This is my fault alone, as I completely gave up pushing for them when an activist entered our stock in 2020,” he wrote.
“I planned my exit at that moment knowing I was no longer right for the company,” he wrote of his resignation just over a year ago.
Dorsey did not identify the activist, but the timing matches when investor Paul Singer’s Elliott Management took a $1 billion stake and started moves to oust him as CEO.
In his confessional — which he admitted was too long to share in full on the platform he founded — Dorsey decried the “dangerous” attacks on his “former colleagues.”
“If you want to blame, direct it at me and my actions, or lack thereof,” he wrote, saying he is now “supportive of” the site “needing a fresh reset.”
The biggest mistake
He said his “biggest mistake” was helping to build tools for Twitter to “manage the public conversation” rather than “tools for the people using Twitter to easily manage it for themselves.”
“This burdened the company with too much power, and opened us to significant outside pressure,” he conceded.
“I generally think companies have become far too powerful, and that became completely clear to me with our suspension of [then-President Donald] Trump’s account” in January last year, he said.
That suspension — only recently overturned by new owner Elon Musk — was “the wrong thing for the internet and society.”
Still, he put it down to “mistakes” being made, still claiming that he believes “there was no ill intent or hidden agendas” in blocking the president.
“Again, I own all of this and our actions, and all I can do is work to make it right,” he wrote.
Now, Dorsey is a “strong believer that any content produced by someone for the internet should be permanent until the original author chooses to delete it.”
“Content takedowns and suspensions should not be possible,” he wrote.
He also addressed “moderation” on the site after the “Twitter Files” revealed how conservative voices were shadow-banned on the site.
“A ‘follow’ action should always deliver every bit of content from the corresponding account, and the algorithms should be able to comb through everything else through a relevance lens that an individual determines,” he wrote, rather than the old system, where staffers were able to manipulate such mechanisms.
Dorsey also made clear that he not only supports the release of the scandalous “Twitter Files” — he wishes Musk would go further and release all the documents rather than just journalists’ takes on them.
“I wish they were released WikiLeaks-style, with many more eyes and interpretations to consider,” he said, stressing that despite all the scandals, “there’s nothing to hide … only a lot to learn from.”
Dorsey has repeatedly backed Musk’s free-speech vision for the site, while warning against the potential woes of one person having such power at the helm.
Musk has likewise spoken warmly of his new company’s founder, insisting recently that “Jack has a pure heart.”
Despite his own attacks, Dorsey remained optimistic that the site could improve and learn from his mistakes.
“I do still wish for Twitter, and every company, to become uncomfortably transparent in all their actions, and I wish I forced more of that years ago,” he wrote.
“I do believe absolute transparency builds trust.”
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Source: New York Post