Twitter Reacts to Trump Fact Check Backlash: ‘Leave Our Employees Out of This’
Jack Dorsey attempts to deflect blame from his employees
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Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey responded to the growing backlash against the practices of his social media platform which saw a fact check placed on two of President Donald Trump’s tweets this week.
Dorsey emphasized there was a 'difference' between Twitter and Facebook's misinformation policies.
“Fact check: there is someone ultimately accountable for our actions as a company, and that’s me,” Dorsey tweeted.
“Please leave our employees out of this. We’ll continue to point out incorrect or disputed information about elections globally. And we will admit to and own any mistakes we make.”
But Dorsey's attempt to deflect blame from his employees could be down to the fact that the Twitter executive in charge of the recent "fact check" has a history of anti-Trump posts, once blasting the White House as being occupied by "ACTUAL NAZIS."
Yes, that person in the pink hat is clearly a bigger threat to your brand of feminism than ACTUAL NAZIS IN THE WHITE HOUSE.
— Yoel Roth (@yoyoel) January 22, 2017
As Neon Nettle reported on Wednesday, the "Head of Site Integrity" for the company, Yoel Roth, who is in charge of "developing and enforcing Twitter’s rules," has a barrage of politically-charged, anti-Trump tweets calls into question whether he should be creating guidelines for the president and other Twitter users.
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Dorsey argued that Twitter's decision to place warnings on tweets does not make the platform an “arbiter of truth,” a similar phrasing to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who defended a decision not to label misinformation shared by politicians.
“This does not make us an ‘arbiter of truth.’ Our intention is to connect the dots of conflicting statements and show the information in dispute so people can judge for themselves," Dorsey said.
"More transparency from us is critical so folks can clearly see the why behind our actions,” Dorsey added.
But what Dorsey and Zuckerberg fail to mention is that 'fact checks' by so-called non-partisan entities reduce visibility in the newsfeed and censors content as a result of the warning, in turn punishing website and accounts until they 'correct' their claims.
Dorsey added that tweets were labeled because they “may mislead people into thinking they don’t need to register to get a ballot.”
He added that Twitter would be updating the link on the president’s tweet “to make this more clear.”
This does not make us an “arbiter of truth.” Our intention is to connect the dots of conflicting statements and show the information in dispute so people can judge for themselves. More transparency from us is critical so folks can clearly see the why behind our actions.
— jack (@jack) May 28, 2020
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On Wednesday, President Donald Trump warned social media companies of closure following Twitter's fact check.
Trump noted that many conservatives feel censored by social media platforms, as the tech giants' most high profile censorship attack threatens to expose election meddling.
Trump added that Republicans would consider federal regulations and even closing down platforms if such censorship continues.
"Republicans feel that Social Media Platforms totally silence conservatives voices," Trump wrote.
"We will strongly regulate, or close them down before we can ever allow this to happen. We saw what they attempted to do, and failed, in 2016," he added.
"We can’t let a more sophisticated version of that happen again. Just like we can’t let large scale Mail-In Ballots take root in our Country," he continued.
"It would be a free for all on cheating, forgery and the theft of Ballots. Whoever cheated the most would win. Likewise, Social Media. Clean up your act, NOW!!!!" he added.
....happen again. Just like we can’t let large scale Mail-In Ballots take root in our Country. It would be a free for all on cheating, forgery and the theft of Ballots. Whoever cheated the most would win. Likewise, Social Media. Clean up your act, NOW!!!!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 27, 2020
Last year, Twitter even suspended Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell's account, prompting the GOP to threaten to cut off advertising on the site until Twitter relented.
