Twitter CEO defends not suspending Alex Jones, says company won't 'react to outside pressure'

Content from conspiracy peddler Alex Jones has been removed from Facebook, YouTube, Spotify, Apple, and even Pinterest, but don't expect to see the Infowars founder suspended from Twitter any time soon.

Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey tweeted Tuesday night that Jones "hasn't violated our rules. We'll enforce if he does. And we'll continue to promote a healthy conversational environment by ensuring tweets aren't artificially amplified." Twitter has been "terrible at explaining our decisions in the past," he added, and the company is "fixing that."

Jones has come under fire for saying outlandish things like the parents of Sandy Hook victims are "crisis actors," and Dorsey said if "we succumb and simply react to outside pressure, rather than straightforward principles we enforce (and evolve) impartially regardless of political viewpoints, we become a service that's constructed by our personal views that can swing in any direction. That's not us." Accounts like Jones' "can often sensationalize issues and spread unsubstantiated rumors," Dorsey added, "so it's critical journalists document, validate, and refute such information directly so people can form their own opinions. This is what serves the public conversation best."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up