Twitter Users Mock Jack Dorsey's Rationale For Alex Jones' 7-Day Suspension
Apparently, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey thinks the best way to deal with Alex Jones is to treat him like a 5-year-old.
On Monday the social media platform suspended Jones for a week after he urged viewers to get their “battle rifles” ready in a video posted to his personal Twitter account.
As a result, Jones’ account will remain live, but he won’t be able to tweet or retweet.
In an interview airing Wednesday night with NBC News anchor Lester Holt, Dorsey justified the relatively short suspension for Jones. In the process, he used language more appropriate for dealing with a child who took a cookie without permission than a grown man with a history of promoting conspiracy theories, such as his false claim that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in Connecticut was a hoax.
“Any suspension, whether it be a permanent one or a temporary one, makes someone think about their actions and their behaviors,” Dorsey said.
EXCLUSIVE: Twitter CEO @jack Dorsey on Alex Jones’ "timeout":
"Any suspension, whether it be a permanent one or a temporary one, makes someone think about their actions and behaviors."@lesterholtnbc has more tonight on @NBCNightlyNews. pic.twitter.com/QwUYjcYbAD— NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt (@NBCNightlyNews) August 15, 2018
Holt appeared skeptical that Jones would change his ways after sitting in a metaphorical corner for a week.
“You think Alex Jones is going to change his behavior based on a timeout?” askedHolt.
“I don’t know. We have found that it does have the potential to ... impact and change behavior,” Dorsey said.
Twitter users responded to the suspension with a collective “Seriously?”
@jack You're not talking about a 5 year old changing behavior after a time out. You are talking about a really evil, unstable grown man who doesn't care what you think or are trying to "teach" him.
— Barbara Tepper (@softlikewater) August 15, 2018
A week from now:@jack: “Well? Have you thought about your actions?”
Alex Jones: “Yes. I’m going to double down and go after the liberals even harder! They should all be shot!”@jack: “Cool, good talk. Welcome back!”— King of Tωitter (@TonyNoland) August 15, 2018
Ever see a 2 year old after a time out? Most of the time, they go right back in. It's called recidivism. And 2 year olds are more equipped to feel remorse than Alex Jones.
— Louise Perry ✡ (@louise__lep) August 15, 2018
All I hear is, "I'm in the pocket of the far-right. I'm complicit in any acts of violence that have been promoted and encouraged on my platform. It's money, not free speech, that I truly care about."
— NH (@nzh_tweets) August 15, 2018
Dorsey later took to Twitter and admitted that the timeout might be ineffective.
We have some evidence to show this does work. It won’t in every case. And we need to constantly evolve our enforcement actions. There will never be a perfect endpoint.
— jack (@jack) August 15, 2018
The suspension reflects a change in stance on Jones by Dorsey, who was slammed last week after he declared that Jones would remain on Twitter because he “hasn’t violated our rules.”
CNN reporter Oliver Darcy fact-checked the claim and discovered numerous times that Jones and Infowars violated Twitter’s terms of service.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost.
