I'm not completely sure that Evan Williams is trying to exert control in the same way Microsoft has. Much of the great stuff that happens online is due to a "benevolent dictator" approach. Someone (or a team) needs to shepherd the "big new idea" through many phases, in an environment where a lot of people are trying to muck it up (trolls, spammers, you name it).

Giving anyone the firehose could cause all sorts of problems in the short-term. It seems reasonable for Twitter execs to think carefully about the right way to do that.