Twitter CEO Admits Conservative Employees 'Don't Feel Safe To Express Their Opinions'
A number of conservative politicians and commentators continue to put pressure on the Silicon Valley over what they see as a political bias that serves to diminish right-wing voices.
The backlash has resulted in some tough questions for executives at some of the world’s largest tech firms, including Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey.
Dorsey has acknowledged the company culture leans left but denied that the platform censored any users based on political views, according to a previous report by The Western Journal.
“We need to constantly show that we are not adding our own bias, which I fully admit is left, is more left-leaning,” Dorsey said last month. “And I think it’s important to articulate our bias, and to share it with people so that people understand us, but we need to remove all bias from how we act, and our policies, and our enforcement.”
He expounded on those comments in a recent interview published by Recode with New York University journalism professor Jay Rosen.
During the conversation, Dorsey acknowleged that some conservatives working for Twitter do not feel comfortable speaking openly on some issues.
“We have a lot of conservative-leaning folks in the company as well, and to be honest, they don’t feel safe to express their opinions at the company,” he said, according to Fox News.
Dorsey went on to say that some conservatives “feel silenced” in the workplace because of “what they perceive to be the broader percentage of leanings within the country.”
Using an example from his childhood, he explained why he does not think it is “fair or right” for employees to feel pressured to keep their views silent.
“We should make sure that everyone feels safe to express themselves within the company, no matter where they come from and what their background is,” he said. “I mean, my dad was a Republican.”
His mother “was on the opposite end of the spectrum,” he said, but conservative radio hosts were constantly playing on the radio at their house.
“I always felt safe to challenge both of them, especially my dad, and so it was definitely a privilege,” he said. “But if we’re creating a culture that doesn’t enable people or empower people to speak up or not, we’re going to be able to do that for our service.”
Dorsey continued to deny that Twitter employees silence conservative voices in any way based on their political views.
He reiterated, however, that he feels being open about the predominant ideology at the company is important.
“I think it’s more and more important to at least clarify what our own bias leans towards, and just express it. … I’d rather know what someone biases to rather than try to interpret through their actions,” he said.
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