Inside Twitter's Long, Slow Struggle To Police Bad Actors (wsj.com)

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has personally weighed in on high-profile decisions, frustrating some employees. An anonymous reader shares a report: When Twitter Chief Executive Jack Dorsey testifies before Congress this week, he'll likely be asked about an issue that has been hovering over the company: Just who decides whether a user gets kicked off the site? To some Twitter users -- and even some employees -- it is a mystery. In policing content on the site and punishing bad actors, Twitter relies primarily on its users to report abuses and has a consistent set of policies so that decisions aren't made by just one person, its executives say. Yet, in some cases, Mr. Dorsey has weighed in on content decisions at the last minute or after they were made, sometimes resulting in changes and frustrating other executives and employees [Editor's note: the link may be paywalled; alternative source], according to people familiar with the matter. Understanding Mr. Dorsey's role in making content decisions is crucial, as Twitter tries to become more transparent to its 335 million users, as well as lawmakers about how it polices toxic content on its site.

Last month, after Twitter's controversial decision to allow far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to remain on its platform, Mr. Dorsey told one person that he had overruled a decision by his staff to kick Mr. Jones off, according to a person familiar with the discussion. Twitter disputes that account and says Mr. Dorsey wasn't involved in those discussions. Twitter's initial inaction on Mr. Jones, after several other major tech companies banned or limited his content, drew fierce backlash from the public and Twitter's own employees, some of whom tweeted in protest. [...] "Any suggestion that Jack made or overruled any of these decisions is completely and totally false," Twitter's chief legal officer, Vijaya Gadde, said in a statement. "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."

Comments

Anonymity should end

[DalM]

Facebook, twitter, etc should all (voluntarily) require all users to complete an identity verification process, and then real names should be used as handles.

If you aren't anonymous, then you are far less likely to be a jerk.

Re:Anonymity should end

[PopeRatzo]

Freedom is a high price to pay to get rid of "jerks".

Freedom is a high price to pay to use a social media platform, but you do it willingly.

There is nothing "unfree" in any way about requiring a real name and identity for every Twitter account. You can still say what you want, but now you're accountable. They're private web sites for god's sake. They can do what they want.

Re:Nazis have no value to society

[PopeRatzo]

Can you point out where he incited violence against anyone?

Oh, why do I feel the need to respond to people who are about as likely to understand as my cat?

https://qz.com/1335125/infowar...

https://www.rawstory.com/2017/...