Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey On Alex Jones’ Twitter Suspension: ‘We Put Him In A Timeout’

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey On Alex Jones’ Twitter Suspension: ‘We Put Him In A Timeout’

Earlier this week, Twitter suspended conspiracy theorist and Sandy Hook truther Alex Jones from using most of the features of the platform for seven days over a video in which he called for his supporters to grab their “battle rifles.” This move was the harshest action the social media company has taken towards Jones and comes in the wake of criticism Twitter has faced for not outright banning the far-right conspiracist as other companies have removed him from their platforms.

In an upcoming interview with NBC News’ Lester Holt, Dorsey discussed the brief suspension and said that he hopes that it will help change Jones’ behavior on the social media site.

“It did,” Dorsey told Holt after the anchor said Jones’ video sent a chill up his spine. “I mean, there is a number of actions that we believe help — a call to incitement to violence. Those are the things that we need to make sure that we are taking action on.”

Holt then asked about the suspension and got this response from Dorsey: “We put him in a timeout removing his ability to tweet for a time period.”

The host noted that a “timeout” seems minor compared to someone “suggesting a call to arms” against the media and wanted to know how Dorsey felt about that.

“I feel, you know, any suspension whether it is a permanent one or temporary one makes someone think about their actions and behaviors,” the Twitter chief stated.

Holt pressed him on whether or not he actually believes Jones will change his behavior, causing Dorsey to essentially shrug and say that they’ve seen in the past that it has the “potential to change” while stating that this is “consistent with how we enforce.”

Watch the clip above, via MSNBC.

Justin Baragona

Justin Baragona is the founder/publisher of Contemptor and a contributor to The Daily Beast. He was previously the Cable News Correspondent for Mediaite and prior to starting Contemptor, he worked on the editorial staff of PoliticusUSA. During that time, he had his work quoted by USA Today and BBC News, among others. Justin began his published career as a political writer for 411Mania. He resides in St. Louis, MO with his wife and pets.

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