#sorry #sorry

Twitter leader laments role in Trump’s election

Evan Williams says he was wrong to think a platform for everyone to freely exchange ideas would improve the world

Illustrative: A Twitter app on an iPhone screen. (AP/Richard Drew/File)
Illustrative: A Twitter app on an iPhone screen. (AP/Richard Drew/File)

SAN FRANCISCO — A co-founder of Twitter says he’s sorry if the popular social media platform helped put Donald Trump in the White House, as the president has suggested.

In an interview with The New York Times, Evan Williams says Twitter’s role in Trump’s populist rise is “a very bad thing.”

The president has credited Twitter with his election to the highest office in the land.

When confronted with that notion, Williams said: “If it’s true that he wouldn’t be president if it weren’t for Twitter, then yeah, I’m sorry.”

The 45-year-old Silicon Valley entrepreneur also said the internet is obviously broken because it rewards extremes.

FILE - In this Sept. 14, 2010 file photo, then Twitter CEO Evan Williams speaks at the company's headquarters in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)
FILE – In this Sept. 14, 2010 file photo, then Twitter CEO Evan Williams speaks at the company’s headquarters in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

Williams also says he was wrong thinking that the world would be a better place if there was a platform for everyone to freely speak and exchange ideas.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press.

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