Hollywood actor Seth Rogen has accused Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey of protecting “white supremacists” using the social media platform. Seth Rogen, the actor known for his roles in films such as Knocked Up and The Interview, took to Twitter recently to accuse the CEO of the social media platform, Jack Dorsey, of failing to crack down on users Rogen considers white supremacists using the website, and verifying some of them with a blue Twitter checkmark – which has transitioned from a way to denote that an account is authentic into a badge of approval from Twitter staff. Twitter has slowed down their verification process massively, verifying very few new accounts over the past year. In a tweet, Rogen claimed to have been direct messaging with Jack Dorsey over the past 8 months. Rogen decided after messaging with Dorsey for some time about the need to crack down on white supremacists that Dorsey was failing to do so as “the dude simply does not seem to give a fuck.” 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 Many leftists replied to Rogen’s tweet including outspoken feminist Zoe Quinn and “diversity consultant” Mikki Kendall. Replying to Rogan’s tweet, Kendall claimed that Jack Dorsey doesn’t care about the issues raised by Rogen but that Twitter staff members do care. He doesn't. I have talked to his staff, worked with them & they care. He doesn't. He has some bizarre idea that this platform isn't supposed to consider the harm it can enable. But only in one direction. — ❄Mikki Kendall❄ (@Karnythia) July 3, 2018 Far-left feminist Zoe Quinn also claimed to have spoken to “higher ups” at Twitter, saying that they are “just as bad” as Dorsey. Quinn derided these “higher ups” at Twitter for telling her that they “like to let the community decide” what is acceptable on the platform. Tried for years with them, the rest of the higher ups are just as bad. “We like to let the community decide”. It was funny that before trump one of the other excuses they were giving to not do their jobs was “what if the president blocked someone? Isnt that a free speech issue?” — ℤoë “deep thot” ℚuinn (@UnburntWitch) July 3, 2018 Seth Rogen has been a vocal critic of Presiden Trump and conservatives in general for some time now. Rogen famously compared the film American Sniper — based on the life of American war hero Chris Kyle — to “the movie that’s showing in the third act of Inglorious Basterds.” The movie watched by characters during the third act of Inglorious Basterds is a Nazi propaganda film. American Sniper kind of reminds me of the movie that's showing in the third act of Inglorious Basterds. — Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) January 18, 2015 At the time, Twitter users took issue with Rogen’s tweet: @Sethrogen Insulting my dead hero friend isn't going to win you any more fans. -Brandon Webb — Brandon Webb (@BrandonTWebb) January 20, 2015 In October of 2017, Rogen told Donald Trump Jr. that his father, President Trump, was a “sexual predator” in a private DM that he then tweeted a screenshot of: Sliding in to @DonaldJTrumpJr DMs to remind him his father is a sexual predator like: pic.twitter.com/a1vW3A4YCk — Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) October 12, 2017<doc-sep>Seth Rogen may finally help us understand how a handful of white supremacists got to be verified on Twitter. On Tuesday, the actor tweeted that he’s been DMing with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey about the matter, with frustrating results: 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 Advertisement Advertisement Advertisement The background: Twitter has long “verified” an account so that users will know it belongs to the person who says it’s theirs, often a celebrity, journalist, well-known organization, or other notable entity. (Verified accounts also have extra filtering tools that nonverified users don’t get.) The problem, of course, is that the blue check mark that verified accounts have looks like an institutional endorsement. In November 2017, Twitter verified the account of Jason Kessler, one of the main organizers of the violent Unite the Right rally of white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia—an act on the social network’s part that led to a slew of criticism over how Twitter was enabling people like Kessler to spread their message. As a result of the uproar, Twitter revoked Kessler’s verification and the verifications of other well-known white supremacists; it also announced that it was pressing pause on the entire verification program to reassess its purpose. Basically nothing has changed since last November, and there haven’t been any developments regarding how the policy will be updated or when public submissions for verification will start up again. Advertisement 4 / We're working on a new authentication and verification program. In the meantime, we are not accepting any public submissions for verification and have introduced new guidelines for the program. https://t.co/j6P0HGXIVq — Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) November 15, 2017 Advertisement But those check marks are still adorning some pretty odious accounts. The Twitter account of the Proud Boys, a self-described “Western Chauvinist” organization that has been classified as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, is still verified, for example. Advertisement As for new verifications, Twitter has made an exception for some candidates running for public office in the midterm elections, as well as for a certain celebrity baby. We don’t know much beyond that about what Twitter is thinking about verifications, and how a new system would go about excluding hateful accounts. If Rogan thinks Dorsey “does not seem to give a fuck,” that would seem to be information a lot of us would like to know. Certainly, a lot of people replying to Rogen’s tweets thinks he should make those DMs public. post screenshots — lifelong blazers fan (@pblest) July 3, 2018 How about it, Seth?<doc-sep>
Roy Rochlin/FilmMagic Seth Rogen is best known for stoner comedy, but he may not be joking about this -- today, the actor/producer/comedian called out Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey for his stance on 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 The tweet kinda speaks for itself, but just in case you can't see the embed (or if it gets deleted), here it is in plain text: 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. Apparently, Rogen had a direct line to the head of Twitter for the past 8 months to chat about Twitter's hate problem. Wow, to say the least. Mind you, it's not like Twitter is doing nothing about its toxicity problem -- in December, it started banning notable white nationalist and nazi groups, and the company's currently fighting in court to keep them banned. But Twitter is also facing pressure from the right, claiming that the social network is trying to suppress conservative viewpoints -- reportedly, Dorsey has been holding secret dinners with conservative leaders who believe the tech industry is biased. Now, Rogen seems to be suggesting @Jack doesn't care as much as he lets on. That's something that feminist Mikki Kendall seems to agree with: He doesn't. I have talked to his staff, worked with them & they care. He doesn't. He has some bizarre idea that this platform isn't supposed to consider the harm it can enable. But only in one direction. — ❄Mikki Kendall❄ (@Karnythia) July 3, 2018 But we can't say for sure that Rogen isn't just frustrated with Twitter's slow progress. (Show us the receipts, Seth!) Twitter declined to comment. Rogen didn't immediately reply to requests for comment. Rogen also tweeted at Donald Trump Jr. last year, asking him if he could convince his dad to quit.