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I do not celebrate or feel pride in banning Trump: Twitter chief Jack Dorsey

WION Web Team
WashingtonUpdated: Jan 14, 2021, 08:12 AM IST
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Trump and Dorsey Photograph:(Twitter)

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Twitter had said Trump's tweets violated "Glorification of Violence Policy" as it moved to permanently suspend his account.

After Twitter banned US President Trump from its platform, company CEO Jack Dorsey said, "I do not celebrate or feel pride in our having to ban Donald Trump."

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"After a clear warning we’d take this action, we made a decision with the best information we had based on threats to physical safety both on and off Twitter. Was this correct?"

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Twitter had permanently suspended Trump's account last week amid the Capital riots which led to a huge uproar on the internet as Trump accused the social media giant of silencing him. Twitter later also deleted Trump's tweets from the official @POTUS account.

"This concept was challenged last week when a number of foundational internet tool providers also decided not to host what they found dangerous," Dorsey said adding, "I do not believe this was coordinated. More likely: companies came to their own conclusions or were emboldened by the actions of others."

The company had earlier temporarily blocked the US president's account. Trump had a huge following on Twitter with over 88 million followers. 

"This moment in time might call for this dynamic, but over the long term it will be destructive to the noble purpose and ideals of the open internet," Dorsey conceded.

"A company making a business decision to moderate itself is different from a government removing access, yet can feel much the same," he said.

Twitter moved to block Trump after two tweets in which the US president said his supporters would be "disrespected" as the violence in Capitol Hill led to a huge uproar nationwide.  

In another tweet, Trump said he will not be attending Biden's inauguration on January 20 which is customary for a US president.

"These two Tweets must be read in the context of broader events in the country and the ways in which the President's statements can be mobilized by different audiences, including to incite violence, as well as in the context of the pattern of behaviour from this account in recent weeks," Twitter said.

Twitter had said Trump's tweets violated "Glorification of Violence Policy" as it moved to permanently suspend his account.