Twitter is pushing back on Tuesday against a report CEO Jack Dorsey personally stepped in to block the company from banning Alex Jones from its platform.
“Any suggestion that Jack made or overruled any of these decisions is completely and totally false,” Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s chief legal officer, said in a statement shared with TheWrap. “Our service can only operate fairly if it’s run through consistent application of our rules, rather than the personal views of any executive, including our CEO. We know not every company takes this approach, but for a global, open and public service like ours, we believe it’s critical.”
The denial comes a day after the Wall Street Journal reported Dorsey had “overruled” a staff decision to boot the digital shock jock. Twitter’s decision stood out in contrast from other Silicon Valley heavyweights, including Facebook and Apple, that banned Jones from its platforms last month for violating “bullying” and “hate speech” policies.
Dorsey tweeted soon after he knows it’s “hard for many” to understand why Twitter kept Jones on its platform, “but the reason is simple: he hasn’t violated our rules. We’ll enforce if he does.” Twitter later suspended Jones for one week — something Dorsey called a “timeout” — after Jones told his followers to get their “battle rifles” ready against the mainstream media and other enemies.
Dorsey will be in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday to weigh in on the company’s moderation policies.