Elon Musk, who has been working on a deal to buy Twitter, announced he will revoke Donald Trump’s permanent ban on the platform once he completes the takeover. The remark has triggered a huge outcry online with many people saying “their worst fear is coming true”.
Speaking at a Financial Times automotive conference Tuesday, Musk said the ban on the 45th US president was a “morally bad decision” and “flat-out wrong”. He continued that banning the Republican politician on the platform “was a mistake because it alienated a large part of the county and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice,” as reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Following the Capitol Hill seize in January 2021, Twitter permanently banned Trump, citing repeated violations of company rules. Announcing their decision, the company had then ruled that his tweets were “highly likely to encourage and inspire people to replicate the criminal acts that took place at the US Capitol on 6 January 2021”.
As Musk started drawing flak for his remark to overturn the decision, Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey came out in his support. Echoing Musk’s sentiments, he also tweeted, “Generally permanent bans are a failure of ours and don’t work”.
I do agree. There are exceptions (CSE, illegal behaviour, spam or network manipulation, etc), but generally permanent bans are a failure of ours and don’t work, which I wrote about here after the event (and called for a resilient social media protocol): https://t.co/fQ9KnrCQGX
— jack⚡️ (@jack) May 10, 2022
it was a business decision, it shouldn’t have been. and we should always revisit our decisions and evolve as necessary. I stated in that thread and still believe that permanent bans of individuals are directionally wrong.
— jack⚡️ (@jack) May 10, 2022
Most said they were not surprised by Musk’s statement as this is exactly what they feared when he tried to takeover Twitter campaigning for “free speech”. Many also argued that his revoking of the ban would actually mean the opposite. Others highlighted Trump’s past provocative tweets and said if something like the Capitol Hill incident happens again “it will be on Musk”.
So Elon Musk wants Trump back on Twitter. No surprise. But I WAS surprised by what Musk said about why he was so offended when Twitter banned Trump. Some people want America to be a place where up is down, light is darkness & insurrection is patriotism. #JusticeMatters video soon
— Glenn Kirschner (@glennkirschner2) May 10, 2022
You know what the stupidest part about Musk wanting to reinstate Trump is? It actually violates Musk’s stated goal for Twitter: to make a place where there are transparent rules that are fairly applied.
— Cory Doctorow (@doctorow) May 10, 2022
It’s not a victory for “free speech” if Donald Trump is allowed back on Twitter by Elon Musk. It’s just the choice of a billionaire to platform a demagogue who already used the app to incite mass violence and launch a frontal assault on American democracy.
— Justin Hendrix (@justinhendrix) May 11, 2022
By reinstating Trump, Elon Musk is condoning lies and disinformation. He’s clearly comfortable with someone inciting violence to overthrow our Government. The march towards Autocracy continues.
— Rob Reiner (@robreiner) May 10, 2022
Of course Musk is going to bring Trump back to twitter. Is anyone surprised by this?
— Molly Jong-Fast (@MollyJongFast) May 10, 2022
If Elon Musk thinks banning trump was “morally wrong,” what does he think about a guy with no impulse control inciting violent insurrection at the Capitol with his 85 million Twitter followers?
— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@mmpadellan) May 10, 2022
Dear Elon Musk,
No one wants Trump on Twitter.Sincerely,
All Americans— Jack Cocchiarella (@JDCocchiarella) May 10, 2022
Dear Elon Musk
Bringing a narcissistic egomaniac hateful POS like Trump back on Twitter will be catastrophic! He spews hate, incites violence, whines like a baby and every word out of his mouth is a lie. It’s not political it’s the chaos. Giving one man that much power is wrong!
— 🌻 OUT OF FUQS QWEEN 💬 (@SanteenaR) May 11, 2022
When Elon Musk says it’s “morally” wrong to ban Trump from Twitter, what’s he’s saying is he himself is a racist. The people ecstatic about Elon are also racist.
— “All I do is” Nguyen ☺️🇻🇳🌈 (@Nguyen_anime3) May 10, 2022
Dear Elon Musk,
You are planning to give voice, for the sake of your personal interpretation of “free speech”, to the seditious man who actually organized a COUP in order to destroy the very Constitution that guarantees “free speech”….are you freaking kidding us all?— Natives&ImmigrantsAreUS (@LillianRodrigu6) May 11, 2022
Dear Elon Musk, whatever destruction trump causes after you allow him back on Twitter is on you!
— ᗰᗩƳᖇᗩ ℙ𝕙𝕠𝕥𝕠𝕘𝕣𝕒𝕡𝕙𝕪 *☆ ｡･:*:･ﾟ★,｡･:*:･ﾟ☆ (@LePapillonBlu2) May 11, 2022
Elon Musk just said he would reverse Trump’s Twitter ban.
Elon is working real hard to damage this country.
— Harry Sisson (@harryjsisson) May 10, 2022
Trump, on the other hand, has insisted he will not rejoin Twitter regardless of who owns it. “I am not going on Twitter. I am going to stay on Truth,” Trump was quoted by Fox News as saying last month, following the news of Musk’s Twitter deal.
The world’s richest man made a $44 billion takeover bid on Twitter last month. However, he said it was not a done deal and that ideally it would be completed in the next two to three months.
