Twitter’s awkward response to the hack raises questions about the role of Jack Dorsey

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey was silent as his company’s service descended into madness on Wednesday. While critics, commentators, and journalists asked Dorsey to do something, hackers reviewed the accounts of prominent Americans, including Elon Musk, Barack Obama, and Joe Biden, and tweeted blatant cryptocurrency scams. The corporate accounts of major companies Apple and Uber tweeted similar messages. When Twitter gained control of an affected account, it didn’t take long for attackers to get it back.

The company finally resolved the situation after resorting to extreme measures: disabling a large part of the service. Dorsey’s first comments came four hours after the attack began, a jarring gap for the breakneck pace of information consumption that she helped create.

“A difficult day for us on Twitter,” Dorsey tweeted. “We all feel terrible that this has happened.”

A difficult day for us on Twitter. We all feel terrible that this has happened.

We are diagnosing and will share as much as we can when we have a more complete understanding of what exactly happened.

💙 to our teammates working hard to do this well.

– Jack (@jack) July 16, 2020

It is never a good time to have what could be the worst day in your company’s history. But for Dorsey, who has sparked a cult of personality in Silicon Valley, Twitter’s awkward response comes at a particularly challenging time. Both Twitter’s role in settings Public speech and Dorsey’s handling of the company are being questioned.

With the impending US presidential election, the integrity and security of social media platforms is already under the reflection of intense focus. Dorsey has called for increased Twitter scrutiny coming out of a political branch, taking a firm stance on President Donald Trump’s tweets and pointing to some for misleading information and incitement to violence. The movement set Twitter apart from Facebook, which left Trump’s posts alone. (Facebook has since reconsidered their policies) He saw Dorsey being poisoned by progressives and demonized by conservatives.

Within Twitter, Dorsey has faced a wave of palace intrigue. Earlier this year, Elliott Management, an activist fund with considerable Twitter engagement, asked Dorsey to either focus her attention on Twitter or leave. The company’s lawsuits included Dorsey as CEO or giving up the same title at Square, the payment company he helped found. In March, Elliott retired while trying to get rid of Dorsey, but he still has a presence on the board and is known to wait for his moment.

Eliott Management declined to comment on the hack. Twitter declined to comment on Dorsey’s leadership and did not make him available for an interview. Twitter has said the attack may have been the result of hackers chasing Twitter employees who had access to internal tools. Around 130 beads may have been attacked The FBI is reportedly investigating the incident.

However, the attack could boost the momentum to force Dorsey to focus his attention.

“His position has always been a bit precarious. It is very difficult to remain CEO of two organizations,” said David Yoffie, a professor of business administration at Harvard Business School. “This incident is probably more damaging to his personal reputation due to his divided approach.”

Dorsey has defended her double duty on Twitter and Square in the past. “I have enough flexibility in my schedule to focus on the most important things, and I have a good sense of what is critical to both companies,” he said at a Morgan Stanley event in March.

Even though Dorsey appears to have the support of her board, a high-profile disaster like Wednesday’s rape could make company directors at least consider changes, said Christine Mooney, a professor at the University’s School of Business. Northern Illinois.

“It’s something the board will have to evaluate,” said Mooney. “Could this have been avoided if you just dedicated your time to this important company?”

There is a bright spot for Dorsey. At the end of this month, CEOs of Facebook, Google, Apple and Amazon are expected to testify before an antitrust subcommittee of the Judiciary of the House of Representatives. Twitter, which does not face the same antitrust criticism as the other companies, will not attend. While the theme of the Congress grill is market competition, politicians will undoubtedly deviate from other issues, such as electoral integrity, political bias, and platform security.

After the hack, Dorsey is probably especially grateful not to join his Big Tech counterparts on the bench. She took her turn in a. couple of hearings two years agoAnd it is not out of place for him to face congressional scrutiny for Wednesday’s attack at some point in the future.

“If I were in his place,” said Yoffie of Harvard, “I’d probably be delighted not to be on the list.”