I’m sorry my idea helped him win the election, says Twitter founder

A TWITTEr founder has apologised for the social media platform’s role in putting Donald Trump in the White House.

Evan Williams, the firm’s main shareholder, said he was ‘sorry’ if Twitter had – as the US President claims – helped to sway the election.

Mr Williams also said the internet as a whole was ‘broken’ and that his creation might be making things worse. ‘I thought once everybody could speak freely and exchange information and ideas, the world is automatically going to be a better place,’ said Mr Williams. ‘I was wrong about that.’

Mr Trump has credited Twitter with securing his rise to the highest office in the land. He has 30million followers for his personal Twitter account and 17million for his official presidential account.

Mr Trump uses both accounts to publish his forthright views on world events, his critics, policies and rivals. The President told Fox News: ‘Maybe I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for Twitter, because I get such a fake press, such a dishonest press.’

Mr Williams said: ‘If it’s true that he wouldn’t be president if it weren’t for Twitter, then yeah, I’m sorry.’

He admitted that the social media platform held an attraction for extremists and those who seek to abuse and insult others.

He has stepped down from his role as chief executive officer of Twitter and is working on a new blogging platform, known as Medium.