Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey Downplays Possibility Of Ban On Trump: Obama Made Threats Too
- 5 years ago
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey weighed in on the possibility of banning President Trump on Twitter.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey suggested that President Trump has not gotten banned from the platform over his language, in part, because his comments are not much different from that of his predecessors including President Obama, reports the Daily Beast.
During an interview on the Joe Rogan Experience, host Joe Rogan asked Dorsey about fellow podcaster Sam Harris' efforts to get Trump banned from Twitter, citing the president's nuclear threats against North Korea.
Dorsey responded by saying: "It was the context that presidents of this country have used similar language in different mediums. They use it on radio. They use it on television. It's not just through Twitter."
"And even if you were to look at the presidency of Obama," Dorsey added. "It wasn't exactly the same tone and the exact same language, but there were threats around the same country, and we have to take that context into consideration."
Gizmodo notes, while Dorsey did not provide a specific example, there has been speculation that he may have been referring to the time Obama told CBS News: "We could, obviously, destroy North Korea with our arsenals. But aside from the humanitarian costs of that, they are right next door to our vital ally, [South] Korea."
However, Gizmodo argues: "These are not equivalent situations...Obama clearly intended to explain why he didn't think going to war with another nuclear-armed power is a good idea. Meanwhile...Trump had previously threatened North Korean strongman Kim Jong Un with 'fire and fury like the world has never seen.'"
Dorsey went on to tell Rogan that Trump also remains on Twitter because his posts often serve the "public interest."
This is a position the company has expressed before.
Last year, a blog post about its policies said: "Blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial Tweets would hide important information people should be able to see and debate."
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey suggested that President Trump has not gotten banned from the platform over his language, in part, because his comments are not much different from that of his predecessors including President Obama, reports the Daily Beast.
During an interview on the Joe Rogan Experience, host Joe Rogan asked Dorsey about fellow podcaster Sam Harris' efforts to get Trump banned from Twitter, citing the president's nuclear threats against North Korea.
Dorsey responded by saying: "It was the context that presidents of this country have used similar language in different mediums. They use it on radio. They use it on television. It's not just through Twitter."
"And even if you were to look at the presidency of Obama," Dorsey added. "It wasn't exactly the same tone and the exact same language, but there were threats around the same country, and we have to take that context into consideration."
Gizmodo notes, while Dorsey did not provide a specific example, there has been speculation that he may have been referring to the time Obama told CBS News: "We could, obviously, destroy North Korea with our arsenals. But aside from the humanitarian costs of that, they are right next door to our vital ally, [South] Korea."
However, Gizmodo argues: "These are not equivalent situations...Obama clearly intended to explain why he didn't think going to war with another nuclear-armed power is a good idea. Meanwhile...Trump had previously threatened North Korean strongman Kim Jong Un with 'fire and fury like the world has never seen.'"
Dorsey went on to tell Rogan that Trump also remains on Twitter because his posts often serve the "public interest."
This is a position the company has expressed before.
Last year, a blog post about its policies said: "Blocking a world leader from Twitter or removing their controversial Tweets would hide important information people should be able to see and debate."