Twitter Inc. co-founder Biz Stone believes the social media company made the right decision in January when he blocked then-President Donald Trump’s account, but that doesn’t mean he’s comfortable with it.
“It’s a terrifying amount of power,” Stone said Thursday in an interview during the Collision Conference.
“The CEO of a San Francisco company can silence the president of the United States. He was not elected, none of that, and yet his decision has a great impact.”
Stone, who in 2006 co-founded Twitter with CEO Jack Dorsey, is the latest technology executive to publicly question whether social media companies have too much power when it comes to monitoring people’s behavior online.
Shortly after Trump’s ban, Dorsey himself questioned the power of Twitter.
Last month, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg told US lawmakers that he was concerned about the role of his company in relation to the suspension of Trump’s account from his service.
“Many people are concerned that social media platforms may ban elected leaders,” he said during a March 25 hearing. “Me too”.
Stone clarified that he had not participated in the formal decision-making process on Trump, although he sent his views to Dorsey and agreed with the decision.
“I think it was a good decision for Twitter,” he added. “But it’s also kind of scary to know that maybe there is so much power in a person’s decision.”
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