Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has denied that his platform censors users, despite mounting evidence of politically motivated punishments on the microblogging site.
Dorsey was asked about censorship on The Today Show. NBC’s Matt Lauer told him that when he asked his Twitter followers what they would like to know from the CEO, the number-one concern from users was censorship.
“I sent a tweet out telling my followers – my measly number of followers – telling them you were going to be on, and what questions they’d like you asked. There was an enormous outpouring of questions about censorship. So let me ask you point-blank: does Twitter censor the content of its users, does it hide what it would consider inflammatory comments whether they be social or political?”
“Absolutely not,” claimed Dorsey. “Twitter has always been about controls. People can follow who they want.”
However, despite the strong denial, the CEO caveated his comment by acknowledging that the company does indeed filter content on behalf of its users: “It’s our job to make sure they see the most important things and the things that’ll matter to them.”
Dorsey did not elaborate on what constituted “important things” and “things that matter.” Clearly, tweets from previously popular, currently banned conservative users like Robert Stacy McCain and RWSurferGirl do not fall into this category.
The Twitter CEO also told Lauer that his company did indeed censor tweets that “promote violence.” Yet there remains considerable evidence that prominent progressives, feminists and Black Lives Matter activists receive little, if any, punishment when they make calls for violence on Twitter.
Dorsey’s full interview can be watched below:
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