Former Twitter employee: Twitter considered new content restrictions after Trump asked Proud Boys to ‘stand back and wait’

Trump’s comment to Proud Boys made in 2020 presidential debate, after Joe Biden called on Trump to condemn the group. “Proud Boys, stand back and stand your ground,” Trump said, adding that “someone has to do something about Antifa and the left because this is not a right-wing problem, this is a left-wing problem.”

Before Twitter (TWTR) According to the committee, the employee, who is on the company’s content moderation team through 2020 and 2021, said “their concern is that the former Chairman is, for what appears to be the first time, speaking directly to the organizations. extremist organizations and give them instructions,” according to an interview that aired during a House committee hearing on Tuesday. Twitter ultimately did not impose the policy — details of which were not shared during the hearing — following Trump’s comments, the staff member said.

“We are well aware of our role in the broader information ecosystem related to the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol, and as we continue to examine how we can improve future improvement, the fact remains that we have taken unprecedented steps and invested significant resources in preparing and responding to the threats that emerge during the 2020 US election.” Twitter’s Vice President of Public Policy for the Americas Jessica Herrera-Flanigan said in a statement, adding that the company is engaging directly with the House committee.

Herrera-Flanigan added that Twitter “implemented a variety of policy and product interventions to protect public conversation” before and after the 2020 election, and said that on January 6, the company “Leveraged the systems we built before the election to respond to an unprecedented attack in real time.”

Among its efforts after the 2020 election, Twitter’s groups began in December 2020 observing tweets about a large protest in Washington, DC, which took place on January 6 and began monitor related content, take action against election misinformation, references to “last stands” and a number of direct threats of violence, according to the company.

But in their testimony, Twitter employees argued that the company should have done more before the attack. On the night of January 5, 2021, this employee said they “sent a Slack message to someone saying something along the lines of” when people shoot each other tomorrow, I’ll try and rest along. understanding that we have tried. “…I didn’t know that I slept that night.”

The employee continued: “For months, I’ve been begging, predicting, and trying to bring out the fact that if…we didn’t interfere with what I saw happening, people would die. And on January 5th, I realized that no interference would come, even as hard as I tried to create one or make one, nothing at all and we were in a state of disarray. Suddenly and at the mercy of a violent mob was locked and loaded.”