Seth Rogen thinks Twitter has a white supremacy problem, and he wants everyone to know.
The actor tweeted on Tuesday that he has been “DMing” with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey about his “bizarre need to verify white supremacists.”
I’ve been DMing with @jack about his bizarre need to verify white supremacists on his platform for the last 8 months or so, and after all the exchanges, I’ve reached a conclusion: the dude simply does not seem to give a fuck.
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) July 3, 2018
He went on that based on the exchanges he’s had with Dorsey, he’s reached the conclusion that the CEO “simply does not seem to give a f**k.”
Rogen’s tweet stems from an issue Twitter (TWTR) has had with verifying users. “Verified” accounts are given a blue check mark, which implicitly gives the person behind the account a level of authority or an “institutional endorsement” as Slate calls it.
In November of last year, Twitter had verified the account of Jason Kessler, who was one of the primary organizers of the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The social network was lambasted for enabling someone like Kessler to use the platform to share messages of hate.
And while Twitter announced in the days following that it would be reassessing its verification process, there have been no notable changes. Its rules and policies page says simply that “Freedom of expression means little if voices are silenced because people are afraid to speak up.”
“We do not tolerate behavior that harasses, intimidates, or uses fear to silence another person’s voice,” it continues. “If you see something on Twitter that violates these rules, please report it to us.”
Yet Twitter has seemingly failed to act on this policy in a number of circumstances—several hate groups and white supremacists remain verified on the site.
The issue is undoubtedly complicated due to the constitutional right to freedom of expression; as of Wednesday, Dorsey has not publicly replied to Rogen.
