Fact-checking doesn't make Twitter 'arbiter of truth': Jack Dorsey's retort to Donald Trump
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This comes in reply to Trump threatening Twitter with a big action that can come in the form of an executive order soon.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey on Thursday defended the fact checking action against US President Donald Trump tweets, saying the micro-blogging platform would continue to point out incorrect or disputed information about elections globally.
This comes in reply to Trump threatening Twitter with a big action that can come in the form of an executive order soon.
"Fact check: there is someone ultimately accountable for our actions as a company, and that's me. 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," tweeted Dorsey.
Fact check: there is someone ultimately accountable for our actions as a company, and that’s me. 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.
— jack (@jack) May 28, 2020
Trump had warned social media giants that his government could "strongly regulate" or "close them down" after Twitter fact-checked one of his tweets for the first time.
Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway had earlier targetted Twitter's head of site integrity, Yoel Roth, on Fox News after finding some older tweets from him that were critical of the president and the US administration.
"Somebody in San Francisco go wake him up and tell him he's about to get a lot more followers," Conway was quoted as saying.
Trump supporters shared screenshots of old Roth tweets on social media, slamming him all over.
The Twitter CEO said the action on Trump's tweets does not make them an "arbiter of truth", referring to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg who jumped into the fray, criticising Twitter for flagging tweets by Trump.
"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," Dorsey stressed.
Per our Civic Integrity policy (https://t.co/uQ0AoPtoCm), the tweets yesterday may mislead people into thinking they don’t need to register to get a ballot (only registered voters receive ballots). We’re updating the link on @realDonaldTrump’s tweet to make this more clear.
— jack (@jack) May 28, 2020
Twitter Safety said that action against Trump's tweets about California`s vote-by-mail plans is part of efforts to enforce the civic integrity policy.
"We believe those Tweets could confuse voters about what they need to do to receive a ballot and participate in the election process," said Twitter Safety.
Dorsey said that as per the civic integrity policy, Trump tweets "may mislead people into thinking they don't need to register to get a ballot (only registered voters receive ballots)".
"We're updating the link on @realDonaldTrump's tweet to make this more clear", he said.
Trump, meanwhile, has announced retaliation is coming in the form of an executive order against the social media companies.
"Stay Tuned!!!" Trump tweeted to his more than 80 million followers on the platform.