Elon Musk urged to unban several exiled Twitter accounts after takeover

Elon Musk will reportedly now reinstate some of the internet’s most polarising figures — including a certain former US President.

Reports are swirling that Elon Musk will move to reinstate a number of banned Twitter accounts, including a certain former US President that was sensationally booted off the platform last year.

Musk’s statements leading up to his massive takeover of the company have led many to expect he will restore Donald Trump’s account and reinstate other users who were blocked for breaking Twitter’s previous codes of conduct.

“I think that was a mistake because it alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice,” Musk told the Financial Times in May, as chatter began to build over his potential purchase of the platform.

“Banning Trump from Twitter didn’t end Trump’s voice. It will amplify it among the right, and that is why it’s morally wrong and flat-out stupid.”

Musk tweeted earlier in the day that he was buying Twitter ‘because it is important to the future of civilisation to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner’.

Musk’s statements leading up to his massive takeover of the company have led many to expect he will restore Donald Trump’s account and reinstate other users who were blocked for breaking Twitter’s previous codes of conduct.

Bloomberg reported a person “close to the matter” said Musk intends to “do away with permanent bans on users because he doesn’t believe in lifelong prohibitions”.

Twitter users opposed to the company’s censorship — from small accounts spreading Covid “misinformation” to politicians — have spent the day rallying the world’s richest man to make good on his promise.

After going on a firing spree on Friday, Musk sent out a characteristically cheeky tweet, sealing the $44 billion (A$68 billion) deal that puts him at the helm of one of the leading platforms for global discourse.

He has long trumpeted the importance of free speech on social media, stating he wishes to build Twitter into a global town hall where all views are able to be shared.

Human Events Daily host Jack Posobiec

Musk sacked chief executive Parag Agrawal, as well as the company’s chief financial officer and its head of safety immediately after the deed was handed over.

Agrawal went to court to hold the Tesla chief to the terms of a takeover deal he had tried to escape.

The reports came hours before the court-appointed deadline for Musk to seal his on-again, off-again deal to purchase the social media network.

Musk tweeted earlier in the day that he was buying Twitter “because it is important to the future of civilisation to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner.”

The New York Stock Exchange meanwhile posted a pending order to suspend trading in Twitter before Friday’s session.

Twitter did not immediately reply to a request for comment on the departure of its top executives, but the platform’s co-founder Biz Stone thanked the three men in a tweet for their “collective contribution to Twitter.” “Massive talents, all, and beautiful humans each.”

The closure of the deal marks the culmination of a long and drawn out back-and-forth between the billionaire and the social network.

the bird is freed

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022

Musk tried to step back from the Twitter deal soon after his unsolicited offer was accepted in April, and said in July he was cancelling the contract because he was misled by Twitter over the number of fake “bot” accounts — allegations rejected by the company.

Twitter, in turn, sought to prove Musk was contriving excuses to walk away simply because he changed his mind.

Musk sacked chief executive Parag Agrawal, as well as the company’s chief financial officer and its head of safety immediately sealing the deal.

After Musk sought to terminate the sale, Twitter filed a lawsuit to hold Musk to the agreement.

With a trial looming, the unpredictable billionaire capitulated and revived his takeover plan.

Musk signalled the deal was on track this week by changing his Twitter profile to “Chief Twit” and posting a video of himself walking into the company’s California headquarters carrying a sink.

“Let that sink in!” he quipped.

He even shared a picture of himself socialising at a coffee bar at Twitter headquarters earlier in the day on Thursday.

Musk said during a recent Tesla earnings call that he was “excited” about the Twitter deal even though he and investors are “overpaying.”

— with AFP