Technology

Jack Dorsey Draws A Link Between Physical Danger To People And Twitter Activity

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Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey drew a link Tuesday between the kind of activity users engage in on his platform and real, physical danger that happens in the real world.

The tech executive made the link during an interview with Recode technology reporter Kara Swisher. Dorsey said the company’s top priority is to foster “healthy conversation” and focus on users’ physical safety.

“So you do see the link between what you do and real life danger to people? Can you say that explicitly?” Swisher asked during a live Twitter interview, to which Dorsey responded in the affirmative.

“I see the link, and that’s why we need to put physical safety above all else. That’s what we’re figuring out how to do now. We don’t have all the answers just yet. But that’s the focus. I think it clarifies a lot of the work we need to do. Not all of it of course,” he wrote.

So you do see the link between what you do and real life danger to people? Can you say that explicitly? I could not be @finkd to even address the fact that he made something that resulted in real tragedy. #KaraJack

— Kara Swisher (@karaswisher) February 12, 2019

Dorsey’s comments Tuesday come less than a week after he suggested on a Feb. 5 episode of Sam Harris’ podcast that, “I don’t believe that we can afford to take a neutral stance anymore. I don’t believe that we should optimize for neutrality.”

Conservatives criticized Twitter in 2018 when they accused the company of “shadow banning” figures on the right, including Republican congressman. Twitter executives eventually admitted an algorithm meant to punish “bad-faith actors” had affected certain Republican congressmen’s visibility.

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