Shortly
after he was named Twitter’s new CEO, Parag Agrawal drew criticism from conservatives
Monday as old social media posts and interviews led some to question how
Agarwal will handle censorship, especially of far-right sources, on the social
media platform.
Agrawal tweeted in 2010, "’If they are not gonna make a
distinction between muslims and extremists, then why should I distinguish
between white people and racists.’"
Some conservative commentators also pointed to
Agrawal telling MIT Technology Review in 2020 that Twitter, like other private
companies, isn’t “bound by the First Amendment,” leading some conservative
commentators to speculate that Twitter’s “censorship” of right-wing
sources will worsen
Twitter has not yet responded to Forbes’ request
for comment.
Twitter co-founder and longtime CEO Jack Dorsey announced he was stepping down from his role at the
company Monday morning and that Agrawal will immediately succeed him as CEO.
Agrawal has been at the company since 2011 and served as the
Chief Technology Officer since 2017. Though he will need to answer investors’
questions about Twitter’s plans to jumpstart user growth and revenue, perhaps
Agrawal’s biggest role will be how he navigates issues of censorship,
especially controversial public figures. Dorsey received criticism from both
the left and the right over Twitter’s decision to permanently ban former President Donald
Trump’s account in January for his role in inciting the January 6 attack on the
U.S. Capitol. Many on the left felt Dorsey should have acted earlier to prevent the spread of misinformation and
harmful materials, while others felt Twitter’s ban was setting a dangerous precedent for silencing opposing political views.
CHIEF CRITIC
Jason Miller, CEO of conservative social media
platform GETTR, tweeted Monday that Agrawal may be a bigger threat
to “free speech” than his predecessor, which is a high bar in Miller’s view,
considering he said in a Monday statement Dorsey dedicated his tenure as CEO to
finding “new ways to trample freedom of speech.”
NEWS, POLITICS, SPORTS, HEALTH, ENTERTAINMENT, LIFESTYLE, MUSIC, FAMILY & GOSSIPS
Monday, November 29, 2021
New Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal Already Under Fire From The Right
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment