Twitter executives Jack Dorsey and Vijaya Gadde had their backs to the wall when they appeared on comedian and cultural commentator Joe Rogan’s podcast to talk about free speech this week.
The podcast, which also included independent vlogger and journalist Tim Pool, touched on the controversy surrounding censorship and freedom of expression on social media platforms. Twitter, one of the most popular platforms on the planet, has come to nearly monopolize political speech in the social media age. And when its rules are based on clear ideological grounds, it creates serious problems. This was the main criticism from Pool and Rogan as the company’s leaders struggled to justify their actions.
First, let’s talk about all the pieces on board here. You may recognize Rogan from some comedy specials on Netflix or as one of the main personalities in the UFC. Beginning his public life as a competitive martial artist, Rogan has come to be a multi-faceted media personality. Although he is a self-identified liberal, his podcast on YouTube is known for bringing in personalities of all stripes for his signature three-hour conversations. Guests have ranged from everyone from Elon Musk, to Russel Brand, and to Ben Shapiro.
Clearly, Rogan isn’t one of those people who are afraid to hear opinions that aren’t his own.
Next, we have Tim Pool. Like Rogan, Pool is a self-identified liberal — but his audience drifts much farther to the right than he is because he is very willing to come out hard on the regressive left. His videos often touch on cultural issues, where he simply can’t help but call out the hard left for its violent opposition to free speech. He gained notoriety from his in-person coverage of the Occupy Wall Street movement in 2011.
Finally, we have Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and his legal consultant Vijaya Gadde. While Dorsey has set himself apart from other Silicon Valley personalities by being fairly open about his company’s liberal bias, he is no less guilty than the likes of Mark Zuckerberg when it comes to online censorship. Twitter has become known for unequally enforcing rules regarding harassment, which often end with conservative-leaning pages being taken down for things left-leaning pages get away with on a frequent basis.
Rogan and Pool put their own biases aside and absolutely grill Dorsey and Gadde for this behavior. If you have the time to sit through the entire three-hour conversation, which we highly recommend, you can do that here. If not, watch one of our favorite moments from the entire podcast below.
~ Conservative Zone
Hillary, why do you not abort your mouth with a shit rag in your mouth.
Hillary, you are a thing of the past, an old shredded wheat that is a old dry weed.
Just don’t use Twitter duh ! ! ! ! AMERICA smartin up DON’T use BITTER (twitter) STUPID BOOK (facebook) INSTASPAM etc,etc ! ! ! ! ™®
If innocent people are being harrassed and physically harmed , with the provision of fact based verification , by thugs who disagree with them politically , would you suggest that the people being wrongfully harmed simply stay inside their homes to solve the problem . Smartin up