Co-founder Jack Dorsey said that India, Nigeria, and Turkey had said they would shut down Twitter if it didn’t follow their orders to limit accounts.
Dorsey, who stepped down as CEO of Twitter in 2021, said on Monday that India threatened to shut down the company and go after its workers if it didn’t take down posts and limit accounts that were critical of the government because of farmer protests in 2020 and 2021.
- Jack Dorsey, the co-founder and former CEO of Twitter, revealed that India, Nigeria, and Turkey had threatened to shut down the social media platform.
- In a series of tweets, Dorsey shared his experiences during his tenure at Twitter and mentioned the challenges faced by the company in dealing with governments.
- According to Dorsey, India and Nigeria threatened to ban Twitter over content moderation issues. In India, the government was concerned about certain tweets being labeled as “manipulated media,” while in Nigeria, Twitter’s suspension followed the deletion of a tweet by the country’s president.
- Turkey, on the other hand, reportedly demanded that Twitter establish an office in the country and comply with its regulations, or face a potential ban.
- Dorsey emphasized the importance of a decentralized and open internet, stating that Twitter’s goal is to improve its transparency and accountability to ensure fair and consistent enforcement of its policies across different regions.
- These incidents highlight the challenges faced by social media platforms in navigating the complex landscape of global politics and maintaining freedom of expression while adhering to local laws and regulations.
- The discussions surrounding Twitter’s potential shutdown in these countries underscore the ongoing debate over the balance between free speech, government control, and the responsibility of social media platforms in moderating content.