On Thursday, Elon Musk announced plans to restore previously suspended Twitter accounts starting next week.
The restoration marks its most widespread move yet to reverse the company’s policy of completely kicking out users who consistently violate its rules.
“The people have spoken,” Musk posted on Twitter on Thursday. “Amnesty begins next week. Vox Populi, Vox Dei.”
Musk broke the news after Wednesday’s poll on his followers about whether to provide “general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam.”
The poll closed around 12:45 p.m. ET on Thursday. It concluded that 72.4% agreed with the proposal and 27.6% voted against. Also, it garnered more than 3 million votes on the social media platform.
However, it’s unclear how Musk and his team on Twitter will find out which accounts they’re banning for illegal content or spam vs. other violations. They also haven’t announced how many accounts to reset.
Last week, Musk revealed that he would restore Donald Trump’s account following another poll he tweeted concluded in favor of reversing the ban for the former president. Twitter previously banned Trump after the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
Furthermore, Musk restored the accounts of multiple other controversial users. It included Jordan Peterson, a conservative Canadian podcaster, Babylon Bee, comedian Kathy Griffin, and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
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Accounts for Restoration
After his acquisition of Twitter, Musk stated that he would make a “content moderation council” with “widely diverse viewpoints.” Moreover, he said the company would execute no huge content plans until it was imposed.
There is no evidence of the formation of such a group or involvement in the business mogul’s re-platform decisions. But after restoring Trump’s account, he posted the tweet, “Vox Populi, Vox Dei.” It means “the voice of the people is the voice of god.”
Before Musk’s acquisition, Twitter implemented “strikes” that subsequently occurred with suspensions for long periods. It dates back to when users on-and-on violated its rules on COVID-19 or civic integrity misinformation. It gave users nine chances before Twitter kicked them out of the platform.
Additionally, the platform made more enforcement mechanisms like labeling a tweet or decreasing its reach. It serves as additional rules and includes:
- Those forbidding terrorism.
- Threats of violence against people or groups.
- Abuse or harassment.
- Privacy breach.
- Content endorsing abuse or self-harm.
Previously, Musk stated that he stands against Twitter’s permanent ban policy.
“New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, not freedom of reach,” Musk tweeted last week. “Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter.”
The plan to restore several banned accounts could prompt more Twitter advertisers to exit. Many have previously abandoned the platform after Musk took over.
According to Musk, key Twitter advertisers’ recent exit brought a “massive drop in revenue” for the platform.
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Photo: CNBC
