Science

Twitter CEO apologizes for allowing white supremacist ad

Twitter's Chief Executive Jack Dorsey apologized on Thursday after the microblogging service let through an ad promoting a white supremacist group.

Social media platform also criticised for not doing enough to thwart cyberbullying

Twitter recently suspended several accounts linked to the alt-right movement. (Dado Ruvic/Illustration/Reuters)

Twitter's Chief Executive Jack Dorsey apologized on Thursday after the microblogging service let through an ad promoting a white supremacist group.

"We made a mistake here and we apologize. Our automated system allowed an ad promoting hate. Against our policy. We did a retro and fixed," Dorsey tweeted.

The ad titled "New Article: The United States Was Founded as a White People's Republic on NEW ORDER website" showed eight white children in a field. It was tweeted from an account with the handle @NEW_ORDER_1488.

This tweet from a white supremacist group was promoted in some users' feeds on Twitter before it was removed. (Ariana Lenarsky/Twitter)

Twitter had suspended several accounts linked to the alt-right movement, USA Today reported on Wednesday.

The company, which has also been under criticism for not doing enough to thwart cyber bullying, said on Tuesday that it would upgrade some features to curb abusive behavior.

Twitter's advertising policy prevents advertisers from promoting certain sensitive topics including hate speech or discrimination against race, ethnicity, color, religion and sexual orientation.