Trump holds surprise meeting with Twitter CEO Dorsey at White House
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey sat down for a private meeting with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Tuesday. The surprise chat reportedly focused on “the health of public conversation” on the social media platform.
The closed-door meeting was set to last half an hour and featured other Twitter officials, Motherboard reported citing sources from within the company. Trump announced the meeting post-factum on Twitter.
Also on rt.com 'We were way too aggressive': Twitter CEO admits conservatives were targeted“Lots of subjects discussed regarding their platform, and the world of social media in general. Look forward to keeping an open dialogue!” Trump wrote, posting a photo with Dorsey at the Oval Office.
The agenda of the meeting, reportedly held at the White House’s initiative, was not immediately revealed.
In internal emails cited by Motherboard, Dorsey defended his choice to accept Trump’s invitation as though anticipating a backlash from his own employees.
“Some of you will be very supportive of our meeting [with] the president, and some of you might feel we shouldn’t take this meeting at all,” the tech entrepreneur reportedly wrote, adding that he believes it is “important to meet heads of state in order to listen, share our principles and our ideas.”
The “great meeting” with Dorsey came hours after Trump, who has repeatedly accused Twitter – and other social media giants -- of bias against conservatives, went on another scathing tirade against his favorite communication medium.
“The best thing ever to happen to Twitter is Donald Trump,” Trump tweeted, quoting Fox News host Maria Bartiromo. “So true, but they don’t treat me well as a Republican.”
“The best thing ever to happen to Twitter is Donald Trump.” @MariaBartiromo So true, but they don’t treat me well as a Republican. Very discriminatory, hard for people to sign on. Constantly taking people off list. Big complaints from many people. Different names-over 100 M.....
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 23, 2019
“Constantly taking people off list. Big complaints from many people,” he wrote, referring to the alleged Twitter practice of “shadowbanning” conservative voices, which has drawn ire from establishment Republicans and right-wing commentators and activists alike. In a follow-up tweet, Trump encouraged lawmakers to take Twitter to task.
.....But should be much higher than that if Twitter wasn’t playing their political games. No wonder Congress wants to get involved - and they should. Must be more, and fairer, companies to get out the WORD!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 23, 2019
“No wonder Congress wants to get involved – and they should,” the president wrote.
Dorsey admitted last month that his employees might have acted with too much zeal in banning some conservative users, as he responded to criticism that his platform appears to target predominantly Trump supporters.
“We would fully admit we probably were way too aggressive when we first saw this as well, and made mistakes,” the CEO said in his appearance on the Joe Rogan podcast.
Silicon Valley social media giants have long faced accusations of pro-liberal bias. A host of prominent right-wing activists have been banned and demoted by Twitter after it unleashed a sweeping crackdown on so-called “troll accounts.”
Republican congressman Devin Nunes (R-California) last month vowed to combat the alleged censorship of conservatives and bias by taking Twitter to court. Nunes filed a complaint claiming that Twitter sided with liberals in their “defamation campaign” against him by taking no action against “abusive, hateful and defamatory” content.
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