Donald Trump’s Twitter account reappeared shortly after Elon Musk announced on Saturday that the former US president’s account would be reinstated.
The Twitter owner announced the decision to reinstate Trump’s account after a poll he posted on the social media platform narrowly came out in favor of the move.
“Vox populi, vox dei,” Musk wrote, a Latin phrase loosely translating to “the voice of the people is the voice of God.”
But earlier in the day, Trump said he was not interested in returning to social media platform Twitter, even as new owner Elon Musk celebrated the high turnout in the vote.
Musk, who enjoys reinstating the suspended accounts of famous personalities since his takeover of Twitter, had published the poll on Friday evening.
The poll ended late Saturday in U.S. time zones, with a narrow majority of 51.8% of participants voting in favor of reinstating Trump’s account. Just over 15 million votes were cast during the 24-hour period, according to the Twitter website’s own tracking statistics.
Asked if he plans to return to Twitter through a panel at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership meeting on Saturday, which he was attending via video link, Trump said, “I see no reason to that”.
He said he would stick with his new Truth Social platform, the app developed by his startup Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which he said had better user engagement than Twitter and was doing ” phenomenally well.”
When and why was Trump banned from Twitter?
Trump’s Twitter account was permanently banned shortly after the January 6, 2021 attack on the US Capitol by his supporters.
At the time, Twitter released a statement saying that two of her Tweets on January 8 violated company policies against what she calls the glorification of violence.
A message from Trump said those who voted for him would have a “GIANT VOICE” long into the future and would not be “disrespected or treated unfairly in any way!”
The other said, “To everyone who asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20.”
Twitter said that given the broader context of Trump’s refusal to accept the election results and not planning to attend Biden’s inauguration, his comments could be interpreted by his followers as condoning further actions. of violence challenging the imminent transfer of power, similar to those of January 6.
“It is our determination that the above two Tweets have the potential to inspire others to replicate the acts of violence that took place on January 6, 2021, and that there are multiple indicators that they are received and understood as an encouragement to do so,” Twitter said. on January 8, 2021, explaining his decision.
Social media giants Facebook and YouTube are reportedly taking similar action around the same time.
From the start of his candidacy for the presidency, Twitter had become a central element of Donald Trump’s communication strategy. At the time of his suspension, he had more than 80 million followers.
Since being banned from most of the biggest platforms, he has tried to promote the recently launched Truth Social app, where he has a much smaller 4.57 million subscribers.
Twitter’s decision divided opinion at the time. Some have argued that Trump’s notorious tweets have deteriorated to a new and dangerous level, especially since his election defeat. Others, including then-Chancellor Angela Merkel, said it was problematic for a company like Twitter to suspend a still-serving US president under almost any circumstance.
Musk and Twitter reinstating some previously suspended accounts
Musk calls himself a “free speech absolutist” and has frequently taken to Twitter to discuss plans to change the company’s policies on suspended accounts since the company took over.
He first raised the prospect of Trump possibly returning in May, soon after his initial takeover bid.
Earlier this week, he said Twitter had restored three prominent accounts. At that time, Musk explicitly added that “the Trump decision hasn’t been made yet.”
These included comedian Kathie Griffin, who was suspended for changing her name to ‘Elon Musk’ as a joke in response to Musk saying he intended to ban all impersonation accounts unless they “clearly specify parody”.
Another reinstated account was controversial psychologist and self-help author Jordan Peterson, suspended when he refused to delete a tweet about a transgender actor he referred to using his dropped female name.
Peterson responded to the news by offering Musk his opinion on the Trump issue.
“It’s probably best to reinstate Trump as well. Let him do his thing and let the people decide. In broad daylight. Where such things should be decided,” Peterson wrote.
Twitter also reinstated an account called Babylon Bee, which often ridicules left-leaning politicians in the United States, which had been suspended for failing to remove a Tweet about a Biden administration official who identifies as transgender.
Widespread layoffs, drastic overhaul of Twitter
In addition to fueling discussions about the future of Twitter on the website, Musk has also implemented sweeping and rapid changes since reluctantly completing its takeover.
He halved staff and severely reduced the company’s trust and safety team, which is tasked with preventing the spread of misinformation and harmful content.
These actions and Musk’s tweets have prompted major companies to suspend advertising on the site as they monitor how the platform handles hate speech.
On Saturday, Bloomberg reported that Twitter may lay off more employees in its sales and partnership divisions, citing unnamed sources, just days after a massive resignation of engineers.
msh/wmr (AFP, Reuters)
#Donald #Trumps #Twitter #account #reappears