Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter, has launched a scathing attack on rival social media platform Facebook’s Libra plans.
Dorsey was speaking at a Twitter event held in New York, and was asked about the possibility of Twitter joining the Libra Association – with Facebook representatives in attendance.
Dorsey did not pull any punches in his response. Per a tweet from CNN journalist Kerry Flynn, the Twitter chief replied,
“No. Hell no. Nothing within Libra had to be a cryptocurrency to do what they want to do. They use that label liberally. It’s completely incorrect. I don’t know if it’s a gimmick but cryptocurrency wasn’t necessary to make that thing work.”
The CEO is a well-known Bitcoin proponent, but skeptics may wonder if Dorsey’s comments may have anything to do with deflecting attention from Twitter’s own finances.
While regulators have heaped the pressure on Facebook to halt Libra, slating the company for its past privacy-related issues, Twitter has found itself in a financial quagmire.
Twitter stock plunged by 21% on Thursday after the company told its shareholders that its third-quarter results had been blighted by product issues and advertising “headwinds” – claiming more trouble could be ahead in 2020.
Regulators and politicians, meanwhile, will not likely let up in their attempts to push Facebook into a Libra climb-down.
Maxine Waters, the head of the Congressional Committee on Financial Services, stated this week,
"It would be beneficial for all if Facebook concentrates on addressing its many existing deficiencies and failures before proceeding any further on the Libra project.”
Facebook’s Head of Content and Algorithm Policy Andy O'Connell, also speaking at the Twitter event in New York, conceded that Facebook had made mistakes in the past. He remarked, again per Flynn,
“I think a lot of challenges Facebook has faced is because we haven’t been transparent about our decisions. That’s why we [now] have an oversight board.”
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