On Nov. 29, 2021, Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, resigned from his position as CEO. He will still have a big role in the company as Chairman of Twitter’s Board until at least next year, around May. After that, his role in the company will most likely dissipate. Dorsey’s been in and out of the company since he founded Twitter in 2007. Just a year later, in 2008, Dorsey was pushed out of his position by Twitter’s Board. However, he was brought back to lead Twitter in 2015. 

Now the Former CEO of Twitter,  will be replaced with 37 year old Parag Agrawal. Agrawal was appointed to this position unanimously by the Twitter board after Jack Dorsey abruptly resigned. Agrawal has a long history of work in Twitter, joining in 2011 as a software engineer and becoming the chief technology officer six years later in 2017. Parag Agrawal is also the first Indian-American to lead Twitter in its 15 year history.

Jack Dorsey resigned after reigning over Twitter throughout the entire Trump Presidency. The company took the remarkable step to permanently ban President Trump in January of 2021 from the popular social media platform. This came after Twitter interpreted two tweets he made on January 6th, as “the glorification of violence”. Jack Dorsey had a big focus on “misinformation” and censorship while he led the company, especially having to do with those that trespassed on the capitol on Jan. 6th. He was even called upon to testify in the House of Representatives, saying “the site played a role in the storming of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6th.” at a January 6th Committee hearing.

The company has also faced a lot of criticism over their handling of “misinformation” surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic and vaccines,  putting warning signs like “This tweet may be misleading. Find out why health officials consider COVID-19 vaccines safe for most people,” on tweets that challenged the opinion of the CDC (Center of Disease Control). Some people who voiced strong “Anti-Vax” or “Anti-Vax Mandate” sentiments have also been banned from the platform.

These two key issues that have consumed the news in the past two years has shaped the way Twitter has created policy and community guidelines. Twitter permanently or temporarily suspends accounts that violate their community guidelines and rules; however, some argue that under Jack Dorsey, political opponents of the left have been banned for their opinions. During a meeting with the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Dorsey replied by saying, “We don’t consider political viewpoints, perspectives, or party affiliation in any of our policies or enforcement decisions, period.”

Dorsey’s handling on “misinformation” and Covid-19 probably had a vast impact on his decision to leave the company, but the Former CEO noted in his resignation letter that “I want you all to know that this is my decision and I own it.”

Parag Agrawal has already begun his job as CEO and has made a few changes to Twitters policy. For one, Twitter has banned the use of anyone’s face without their approval which could hurt journalism in the future. Parag has also had an interesting history saying controversial things like in this tweet from over 10 years ago: “If they are not gonna make a distinction between muslims and extremists, then why should I distinguish between white people and racists.” Parag Agrawal will take the reigns of twitter, but we will have to wait and see what other policy changes he makes and what direction the company is heading.