Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has admitted he should never have allowed then-President Donald Trump to be banned from his social media giant.
The tech titan on Tuesday conceded it was the wrong move after Elon Musk, the alleged new owner of Twitter, said he would restore Trump’s account and that Dorsey agreed there shouldn’t be permanent bans.
“I agree,” tweeted Dorsey, who was still at the helm when Trump was banned at the end of his presidency in January 2021.
He said there were “exceptions,” listing child sexual exploitation, illegal behavior or network manipulation.
“But generally, permanent bans are a failure on our part and don’t work,” he said.
Former President Donald Trump was banned from Twitter in January 2021 at the end of his presidency.AP Photo/Joe Maiorana, File
Jack Dorsey stepped down as CEO last year. PRAKASH SINGH/AFP via Getty Images
Dorsey also said he agrees with another user, who tweeted that having “a handful of social media companies” act as “gatekeepers of political discourse” is “short-sighted.”
“It was a business decision, it shouldn’t have been,” Dorsey wrote of Trump’s ban, saying he believes “permanent bans on individuals are directively wrong.”
He also responded to another comment on Trump’s ban that “companies shouldn’t be making these decisions.”
Donald Trump speaks with Elon Musk and Steve Bannon during a meeting with business leaders in the State Dining Room of the White House, Friday, February 3, 2017. AP Photo/Evan Vucci
Donald Trump has said he will not be returning to Twitter, instead promoting his own social media platform, Truth Social. STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images
Elon Musk said he will reactivate Trump’s Twitter account.REUTERS/Joe Skipper//File Photo
“I’m saying a company shouldn’t have to make that decision in the first place. [N]ot for something as important as public talks,” Dorsey wrote.
His reasoning was widely accepted, with many saying he should have seen the mistake at the top of the company.
Dorsey was quick to dismiss a critic of his new theory, who questioned why it was “so wrong” to ban someone from a social media platform when people are normally forbidden from gathering places “like a bar or a stadium.”
The suspended Twitter account of former President Donald Trump.REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/Illustration/File Photo
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey has said he agrees with Elon Musk’s decision to reverse a ban on Donald Trump.
“I’M BACK! #COVFEFE,” Trump posted on Truth Social. TRUTH Social/@realDonaldTrump
“[T]Twitter isn’t a bar,” Dorsey bluntly remarked.
The Twitter co-founder, who stepped down as CEO last year, has endorsed Musk’s upcoming purchase of the company, saying the world’s richest man is a “unique fit” for the San Francisco-based company.
Despite Musk’s vows to restore Trump’s account, the 45th president has said he won’t be returning, instead promoting his own social media platform, Truth Social – which Musk, funnily enough, should have called “Trumpet.”