After Elon Musk said he would reverse Twitter’s ban of former President Donald Trump when his deal to purchase Twitter closes, former platform CEO Jack Dorsey said he doesn’t think bans should be permanent, Axios reported Tuesday.
“Musk says @jack agrees with him that there shouldn’t be permanent bans on individual Twitter users,” Axios Business Editor Dan Primack tweeted. “Reminder that Dorsey was CEO when such bans were implemented.”
Dorsey responded to Primack with his own tweet.
“I do agree,” he said. “There are exceptions (CSE, illegal behaviour, spam or network manipulation, etc.), but generally permanent bans are a failure of ours and don’t work, which I wrote about here after the event (and called for a resilient social media protocol).”
Dorsey’s tweet on Tuesday included his statement from January 2021, after Twitter booted Trump from the platform following the Jan. 6 Capitol building breach.
At the time, Twitter claimed there were concerns Trump could incite more unrest through his tweets.
Dorsey defended the platform’s decision to oust Trump, writing, “I believe this was the right decision for Twitter. We faced an extraordinary and untenable circumstance, forcing us to focus all of our actions on public safety.”
“That said, having to ban an account has real and significant ramifications,” he added. “While there are clear and obvious exceptions, I feel a ban is a failure of ours ultimately to promote healthy conversation.”
In a statement, the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) said he believes Trump should be allowed back on Twitter.
“Like it or not, President Trump is one of the most important political figures in this country, and the public has a strong interest in hearing his speech,” ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero reportedly said. “Indeed, some of Trump’s most offensive tweets ended up being critical evidence in lawsuits filed against him and his administration. And we should know — we filed over 400 legal actions against him.”
During the Financial Times’ “Future of the Car” event on Tuesday, the Tesla CEO said he would restore the former president’s account once he had acquired the company, calling the decision to ban him “a mistake,” The Hill reports.
“It alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice,” Musk said.
The tech billionaire reached a deal last month to purchase Twitter for $44 billion.
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