Latest News

Elon Musk’s Twitter: Who’s leaving and who’s coming back to the social media platform? Trump, Kanye, etc.

Elon Musk owns Twitter and has promised that those who were banned from the platform may have an opportunity to return... what does this mean for Trump?

FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk's photo is seen through a Twitter logo in this illustration taken October 28, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
DADO RUVIC
Maite Knorr-Evans
Maite joined the AS USA in 2021, bringing her experience as a research analyst investigating illegal logging to the team. Maite’s interest in politics propelled her to pursue a degree in international relations and a master's in political philosophy. At AS USA, Maite combines her knowledge of political economy and personal finance to empower readers by providing answers to their most pressing questions.
Update:

Its official, Elon Musk owns Twitter.

A self-proclaimed champion of free speech, Musk has said that some users who had been previously banned for violating Twitter rules, could see their accounts reinstated.

One of the most high profile former users to say that he will have his account reopened is Donald Trump who was booted from the platform after the attack on the Capitol on January 6th 2021.

Musk plans to evaluate Trump’s ban, as well as that of other users, in the coming weeks by forming a “content moderation council” made up of members with “widely diverse viewpoints.” The new owner Tweeted that “No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.”

Musk added later that no changes to the sites content moderation policies had been made. This means that it could be weeks or months before any accounts, including Donald Trump’s are reactivated.

Read more:

While we will have to wait and see what the council decides but we do know that with the case of Trump that Musk believes it was not the correct decision to have him de-platformed. Back in May he was quoted saying “I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump; I think that was a mistake.” This leaves some believing that there may be some personal biases that could influence the council’s findings.

Who else’s ban may be reconsidered?

Many believe that a number of other far-right figures who had been removed from the app may seen their accounts reinstated. The list of potential returnees includes Milo Yiannopoulos (@nero), who was banned for racially targeting comedian Lesley Jones and others. Trump ally Roger Stone (@RogerJStoneJr) could also see his account home under review after he was removed in 2017 for harassing CNN journalist.

Related stories

Steve Bannon who may serve jail time for defying a subpoena from the House Committee on January 6th, could also have his account reinstated after receiving a permanent ban in 2020.

International leaders including Raúl Castro (@RaulCastroR) could also have their account status evaluated as he was banned for an “unspecified breach of rules.”

Tagged in:

We recommend these for you in Latest news