Twitter CEO Elon Musk has reinstated a handful of previously banned accounts like Jordan Peterson, Kathy Griffin, and right-wing comedy website The Babylon Bee. He also provided an update on potentially restoring Donald Trump’s account.
Since Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter was officialized in late October, the billionaire has made daily headlines by announcing and implementing massive changes to the platform. All the while, behind the scenes, he’s triggered huge turnover as he’s attempted to push the platform towards a vision of “Twitter 2.0” which it seems many employees were not on board for.
On November 17, the hashtag “RIPTwitter” became the number one trending topic as users have begun to imagine a life without the bird app.
Now, Elon has unbanned a handful of controversial high-profile accounts and commented further on whether former US President Donald Trump could return to the platform.
Elon Musk unbans Jordan Peterson, mulls unbanning Trump
Musk labeled the company’s new motto as “freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach.”
He also clarified that users won’t be able to say whatever they want, despite his previous comments where he’s claimed to have solely purchased the platform to restore the right to freedom of speech.
“Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter. You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out, which is no different from rest of the Internet.”
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He also revealed that comedian Kathy Griffin, right-wing satire website The Babylon Bee, and controversial media personality Jordan Peterson have all had their accounts restored.
Kathie Griffin, Jorden Peterson & Babylon Bee have been reinstated.Trump decision has not yet been made.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2022
Peterson originally was banned from Twitter on June 30 after a transphobic outburst against actor Elliot Page violated the social media platforms guidelines.
As for unbanning Donald Trump, who is easily the most notorious tweeter of all time, he said that a “decision has not yet been made.”
While a handful of other controversial accounts are now back, the Trump decision is arguably Elon’s biggest one yet. It’s certainly possible that Elon brings back Trump, as the 51-year-old directed Americans on Election Day to vote Republican, the very party Trump was once the head of.
However, only time will tell if Elon will restore Trump and his 88 million followers.