Twitter CEO defends Trump ban while Telegram purges far-right channels

The move was necessary but sets a dangerous precedent, says Dorsey

Twitter chief Jack Dorsey believes that banning Donald Trump from the social media platform was the "right decision" although it sets a "dangerous" precedent.

"I do not celebrate or feel pride in our having to ban @realDonaldTrump from Twitter," Dorsey said in a series of tweets on Wednesday, adding that the company "faced an extraordinary and untenable circumstance, forcing us to focus all of our actions on public safety."

"I believe this was the right decision for Twitter," he tweeted.

"Offline harm as a result of online speech is demonstrably real, and what drives our policy and enforcement above all."

Dorsey stressed that Trump was removed from the platform after having been issued a "clear warning".

He also described the decision as a "failure" by Twitter to ultimately create a platform that could sustain civil discourse and healthy discussions.

Dorsey accepted that such harsh decisions come with "real and significant ramifications" - specifically for a free and open internet.

Earlier this week, UK Health Secretary (and formerly Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport) Matt Hancock expressed similar concerns over social media companies decision to block Trump on their platforms.

Hancock said that such steps raise "a very important question" about the platforms "taking editorial decisions".

"And that is a very big question, because then it raises questions about their editorial judgments and the way that they're regulated," Hancock stated.

"They're choosing who should and shouldn't have a voice on their platform," he noted - which suggests that social media firms are not just platforms.

Last week, Twitter announced that it was permanently banning US President Donald Trump's account, which boasted nearly 88 million followers, following the Capitol building violence. The company had previously suspended his account for 24 hours, but later decided to make the change permanent "due to the risk of further incitement of violence".

After his account was temporarily restored, Trump tweeted that he would not attend President-elect Joe Biden's inauguration.

Twitter said that after assessing the language of two of Trump's tweets, it determined that they were in violation of Twitter's "Glorification of Violence Policy".

Facebook and Snapchat announced similar bans last week, over the Capitol building violence.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that Trump's accounts on Facebook and Instagram were being banned "indefinitely" because "the risks of allowing the President to continue to use our service during this period are simply too great".

Amazon also removed right-wing microblogging service Parler from AWS on Sunday, over its failure to act quickly enough against violent content on the platform.

On Wednesday, the popular messaging app Telegram confirmed that it has also removed dozens of neo-Nazi and white supremacist channels over concerns that they were inciting violence.

On many of these channels, users have been openly talking about carrying out violence, threatening minorities, and displaying other forms of far-right extremism on the platform, without any action from the service, according to media reports.

The service now appears to have changed its mind following last week's riot at the Capitol.

"Our Terms of Service expressly forbid public calls to violence," Telegram spokesperson Mike Ravdonikas told TechCrunch.

"In the past 24 hours we have blocked dozens of public channels that published calls to violence for thousands of subscribers," he added.

Asked if the action relates to last week's Capitol violence, Ravdonikas said the company is "monitoring the current situation closely" and "will examine all incoming reports".