Elon Musk has reinstated the accounts of three controversial Twitter users, including the conservative satire site Babylon Bee, blogger Jordan Peterson and comedian Kathy Griffin. The decision on former President Donald Trump is “not made yet,” but the social media poll looks like it will be affected.
Yesterday, Musk announced a “freedom Friday” on Twitter and began to return previously blocked accounts to the platform. This contradicts Elon’s previous promise to form a council of moderators, which will cancel bans or make other important decisions regarding the content of the social network.
Both Babylon Bee and Jordan Peterson were banned earlier this year for violating Twitter’s rules for their portrayal of transgender people. Griffin was blocked for purchasing a blue tick and impersonating Musk as part of the chaos caused by the launch of Twitter’s revamped Blue subscription.
Kathie Griffin, Jorden Peterson & Babylon Bee should have been redone.
Trump decision cannot be made.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2022
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As you can imagine, Musk’s actions are likely to be criticized. LGBT rights advocates previously actively supported blocking Peterson this summer because of his “hateful and false narratives.”
Twitter’s CEO warned that some content will still be subject to strict restrictions. Hate and other negative tweets will be “minimized and demonetized,” he said. Although this won’t affect accounts in general, it will simply make offensive tweets “invisible” and prevent Twitter from monetizing the content.
Freedom of speech on Twitter does not mean freedom of access, Musk added.
As for Trump, Elon initially said that the decision to unblock him has not yet been made, and later launched a survey “whether to restore the account of the former president of the United States.” At the time of publication of the article, 8.8 million people took part in the vote. 52.5% clicked “Yes”, 47.5% chose “No”.
Reinstate former President Trump
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 19, 2022
It will be recalled that Donald Trump’s account was banned on Twitter after the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, when Trump lost the election to Joe Biden. Musk himself previously stated that he was ready to unlock the former US president.
The combination of lifted bans and new moderation policies shows Musk’s attempts to balance his personal desires with commercial realities. While he argued that Twitter should be a haven for free speech, where bans are rare — Musk also sought to reassure advertisers worried that their videos might appear alongside objectionable tweets. In other words, Musk may still have to restrict toxic content even if its creators are now allowed back on the platform.
Source: Engadget
