Twitter CEO Response Chases Users Away

We didn’t suspend Alex Jones or Infowars yesterday. We know that’s hard for many but the reason is simple: he hasn’t violated our rules. We’ll enforce if he does. And we’ll continue to promote a healthy conversational environment by ensuring tweets aren’t artificially amplified. ~ @jack, Twitter CEO

The only response I have is wow. Maybe the Twitter Board (@omidkordestani, @jack, @Marthalanefox, @IamDebraLee, @NOIweala, @pichette, @rosenblattdavid, @marjscar, @btaylor, @ev, @authorzoellick) will realize that corporate responsibility requires human decency to stand up to lies which promote violence. Twitter bans accounts for less after all.

The Twitterverse Responds

Also, FWIW I think this is the wrong call. Jones’ behavior isn’t a one-off. Twitter started examining offline behavior as a factor in verification last fall. If your policy doesn’t account for Jones-like activity on/offline then the policy isn’t serving a healthy conversation 2/4

If I still worked for you I’d have advised you to frame this as a sign that if current Twitter policies permit verified accounts to encourage followers to harass/harm people offline, then the policies aren’t working as intended & Twitter is looking hard at the way forward 3/4
~ @emilyjhorne, Former Twitter Comms

This is how most users are viewing Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s response:

Twitter’s argument that Alex Jones doesn’t break their rules is a bit like someone saying the guy who repeatedly brings E. coli to the potluck is fine—the rest of us can warn people. Thanks, @jack. Your picnic is sickening.

And about that whole “it’s critical journalists document, validate, and refute such information directly so people can form their own opinions” reply from Jack:

I am not getting paid to clean up your website for you. ~ @mattdpearce, National correspondent for the Los Angeles Times

I like to think that Twitter’s board will make the right decision. This user is stopping to tweet until so.

@Jack equates the conspiracy theories (for profit) of Alex Jones with credentialed journalists who report facts. Jack says it’s up to journalists to prove Jones wrong, as if debating a lunatic daily is what we do.

I love Twitter, but I’m close to leaving this platform for good. ~ @JimHeathTV

For now, my own tweeting has paused.

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