As tech founders resign, Congress loses its favorite targets – The Verge
On Monday, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that he would be stepping down from the company he co-founded over 15 years ago.
The news came as a shock to both Twitter’s own users and its investors on Wall Street. But in Dorsey’s resignation letter to staff, …….
On Monday, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced that he would be stepping down from the company he co-founded over 15 years ago.
The news came as a shock to both Twitter’s own users and its investors on Wall Street. But in Dorsey’s resignation letter to staff, he showed no surprise, writing that it was “finally time” for him to leave and that he made his decision to step aside solely on his own.
His resignation follows years of mounting pressure from Congress against social media platforms like Twitter over concerns ranging from content moderation to monopoly power. Lawmakers have authored bills and held hearings — some in good faith, but perhaps more often in bad — aimed at reining in their power. And like every other major tech CEO, Dorsey has dutifully testified, even if just as an excuse for lawmakers to yell at him for “censoring” them without achieving tangible results.
But this dynamic may finally change under the leadership of Twitter’s new CEO, Parag Agrawal, its former chief technology officer, as legislators lose a widely recognized figure at whom to aim their frustrations. “Hopefully, we can move past this moment of sort of headlines and CEOs and move into a place of Congress buckling down and meaningfully putting in place some regulations that will rein in control of the industry,” Johnny Mathias, deputy senior campaign director at Color Of Change, said in an interview.
Senators like Ted Cruz (R-TX) have scored viral Twitter clips owning Silicon Valley liberals with hearings on Big Tech, and tech hawks like Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) have won headlines lauding them for “grilling” execs like Zuckerberg. But meaningful legislation hasn’t gained much momentum. Still, this relationship has worked for a Congress focused on fundraising or appearing as tough culture warriors in the fight against censorship.
Dorsey, as a founder and Silicon Valley figurehead, became not only the face of his company, but a stand-in for social media’s ills as a whole
Dorsey, as a founder and Silicon Valley figurehead, became not only the face of his company, but a stand-in for social media’s ills as a whole. Like Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, he was a target to complain about his company’s problems, rather than a conduit for useful negotiations.
Dorsey’s departure from Twitter, coming shortly after Bezos left Amazon, seemingly marks a new phase of tech skepticism in Washington, a shift away from the “brilliant founder” narrative and into a more mature …….
