BITTERTWEET IRONY AS BOSS COPS A CRUZ MISSILE

WASHINGTON: Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey’s grilling by Senator Ted Cruz at Tuesday’s (Wednesday AEDT) Senate Judiciary Committee hearing bore a bittersweet irony for the social media giant when the Texas Republican’s scathing attack on the

Battle of the beards … things got a little hairy when Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey (left) was grilled by Republican senator Ted Cruz during a video-linked Senate hearing. Pictures: AFP tech boss shot to No. 12 on the platform’s trending list.

Via videolink, Mr Dorsey was given a severe dressing down by Senator Cruz on Twitter’s election warning measures. The senator asked him if statements from 2004’s bipartisan Commission on

Federal Election Reform, founded by former Democrat president Jimmy Carter and former Reagan secretary of state James Baker, violated Twitter’s safeguards launched during the US election.

“Mr Dorsey, would the following statement violate Twitter’s policies: ‘Absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud’?” Senator Cruz asked.

“I imagine we would label it so people can have more context,” Mr Dorsey replied.

“How about this: Voter fraud is particularly possible where ‘thirdparty organisations, candidates and political party activists’ are involved in ‘handling absentee ballots’. Would you flag that as potentially misleading?” he asked, adding: “Both quotes come from the Carter-baker Commission on Federal Election Reform.”