Twitter founder Jack Dorsey said he would give Signal $1 million each year as a show of support for open internet development.
Jack Dorsey recently pledged to donate $1 million every year to the encrypted messaging app Signal. This funding effort is part of a broader scheme by the Twitter founder to promote open internet development amid an industry needing all-around improvement. According to Dorsey, social media should not be in the hands of a single entity or group of entities. In addition, the Block (NYSE: SQ) co-founder and CEO also stated that the social media space should be resilient to corporate and government influence.
Dorsey also voiced concern regarding the current state of Twitter. In his opinion, Twitter’s state and prospects fall short of the standards he hoped to achieve. Furthermore, the billionaire internet entrepreneur and programmer also expressed disapproval at the harassment of the company’s staff. Referring to such harassment as shortsighted and dangerous, Jack Dorsey declared it is time to move on with the Signal funding commitment announcement. He also further stated that more similar grants are forthcoming and even solicited recommendations.
Jack Dorsey Details Twitter Vision Situation amid Signal Support Announcement
In a blog post, Dorsey detailed his take regarding the Twitter situation, from his original vision for the company to the current social media clime. According to the internet entrepreneur, his vision for the social media giant vanished in 2020 with the admission of an unnamed activist investor.
Dorsey’s original vision for Twitter was three-fold. The vision was for social media to be resilient to external organizational private and public control and for only the original author to have the power to remove the content they produce. During Dorsey’s time at the helm of Twitter, he also advocated for moderation being best implemented by algorithmic choice. Recounting his ultimate exit from Twitter upon failure to actualize these principles, Dorsey said:
“I no longer had hope of achieving any of it as a public company with no defense mechanisms (lack of dual-class shares being a key one). I planned my exit at that moment knowing I was no longer right for the company.”
Dorsey also admitted that his missteps inadvertently imbued Twitter’s internal structure with too much power instead of its users. As he put it:
“The biggest mistake I made was continuing to invest in building tools for us to manage the public conversation, versus building tools for the people using Twitter to easily manage it for themselves.”
The Block CEO also touched on the so-called Twitter Files, saying there was neither hidden agenda nor ill intent. In Dorsey’s opinion, everyone acted according to the best information present at the time. Furthermore, he stated that his management did the right thing for the public company business then, but less for the internet and society.
In other Dorsey-related developments, the Block boss’ tech conglomerate recently invested in an African-based Bitcoin miner. The initiative looks to bring subsidized energy to hard-to-reach areas in rural Africa.
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