Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Is A True Leader For Standing Up To Trump's Online Bullying

Donald Trump has managed to get himself in a spat with his favourite social media platform Twitter.

The US President has been in a to and fro with Twitter upon the kind of content that can go on the microblogging platform.

Reuters

The blame game extends to the effect that the POTUS now claims social media to have ¡°unchecked power¡± and plans to bring in an executive order that could allow federal officials to keep the practices of such technology giants in check. To stop him from having his way, has stepped up none other than Jack Dorsey, the Twitter CEO himself.

Trump is a long standing user of Twitter, with a massive following and several online uproar being caused by his tweets. The recent quarrel between the POTUS and Twitter started on one of the former¡¯s tweets, which called Mail-In Ballots ¡®substantially fraudulent¡¯ for the upcoming 2020 US presidential election.

Needless to say, the tweet is not true. Though this is not the first time that Trump has been a bearer of misinformation, in a classic check, Twitter fact-checked his tweet and concluded that it contained false information. A screenshot of Twitter¡¯s action against the tweet can be seen below.

(Screenshot/ Twitter)

A fact check label reading ¡°Get the facts about mail-in ballots¡± can be seen right below the tweet which, upon clicking, redirects a user to a standalone page citing experts rubbishing the president's claims. The move comes as a part of Twitter¡¯s ¡°civic integrity policy.¡±

Donald Trump soon hit back at the platform, accusing Twitter of ¡°interfering in the 2020 Presidential Election.¡± He further tweeted that the platform was trying to stifle free speech and that he as a president will not let that happen.

The animosity only ramped up as Trump signed the controversial executive order against the social media firms. The social media conglomerate is soon expected to take legal action against the directive.

Following the order, Twitter added a public interest notice to one of Trump¡¯s tweets abouts people protesting against the death of an unarmed black man in custody. In his tweet, Trump hinted that the protestors can be shot. Twitter raised a flag on the tweet saying that it is "glorifying violence." The tweet is still accessible though.

Jack Dorsey vs Donald Trump!

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey (Image: Reuters)

When a social media behemoth is engulfed in a spat with the president of the United States, things are bound to get rough. The POTUS boldly accused the platform of interfering with the elections and constraining free speech. Twitter had to maintain its guard.

Like a classic hero in a mythological kingdom, Jack Dorsey stepped up to save his company. On his Twitter account on Thursday, Dorsey wrote -

¡°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.¡±

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.

¡ª jack (@jack) May 28, 2020

Notice how the Twitter CEO maintained his cool while defending what could have been the most vicious attack on the platform. After all, dealing with the POTUS can have unimaginable consequences if anything goes wrong, more so for a business than an individual. Dorsey made sure he left no chance for that.

First and foremost, the Twitter CEO took the responsibility upon himself for the recent actions on the platform. The mere couple of sentences shielded any and all of Twitter employees from scrutiny by the POTUS. If there ever was a sign of a great leader, it couldn¡¯t have been a clearer one.

He further maintained that the recent steps taken by the platform were completely justified and that Twitter will continue to point out mistakes like these. It does not take a genius to see the importance of such news validation on social media websites, especially those related to elections in any region.

Setting a precedent online

It is not that Twitter has been the first one to ensure such fact check measures. It does, however, take a lot of confidence on one¡¯s system to maintain the validation for even the POTUS. Dorsey clearly has that confidence, and he clearly can challenge Trump¡¯s authority on it.

Donald Trump is known to spread misinformation through any and every medium he appears on. Only recently, the US president hinted at injecting disinfectant into a human body to kill Coronavirus. Needless to say, the medical community was outraged at this and for the first time in history, makers of Purell had to issue a public warning that it is not for drinking.

Dorsey, on the other hand, has turned out to be a global saviour during the pandemic. The Twitter CEO recently made the single largest donation towards the fight against COVID-19, worth $1 Billion. The flow of the money can be tracked in a public Google Doc. Once the pandemic is disarmed, the fund will shift to girl¡¯s health and education, and universal basic income.

So in a face-off between the two on the grounds of content regulation on social media platforms, Dorsey is poised to have a better approach to any required measures than Trump. The way he has shown himself to be the leader here, Trump might have to abide by what Twitter¡¯s terms of service say, at least for now.