Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk has announced he will start restoring previously suspended accounts next week, allowing back users who were permanently banned from the platform for repeated violations.
The announcement comes just hours after the billionaire launched a poll asking his followers about whether Twitter should grant a general amnesty to suspended accounts, given they had not violated the law or “engaged in egregious spam”. This is the first major move by Musk to turn upside down Twitter’s moderation policies enforcing a permanent ban in case of serious guidelines violations. Prior to his $44 billion purchase last month, Musk repeatedly expressed his misgivings about permanent bans, terming them an attack on the right to freedom of speech and expression on the popular social networking platform.
“People have spoken,” Musk tweeted Thursday. “Amnesty begins next week.”
He supplemented the tweet with the Latin phrase “Vox Populi, Vox Dei”, which translates to “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.
Should Twitter offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 23, 2022
The poll recorded over three million votes, with 72 per cent of users voting in favour of amnesty. This is not, however, the first such poll conducted by Musk to consult users about the reversal of permanent account bans. Last week, he launched a similar poll to decide the fate of former US president Donald Trump on the platform, who was banned following his inflammatory tweets during the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots. The poll was taken by more than 15 million users, with over 51 per cent calling for Trump’s account to be reinstated. Subsequently, Trump’s account reappeared on Twitter but no activity has been observed since its reinstatement.
The people have spoken.
Trump will be reinstated.
Vox Populi, Vox Dei. https://t.co/jmkhFuyfkv
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 20, 2022
Other restored accounts include those of former kickboxer Andrew Tate, who was suspended for his misogynistic comments in 2017, and rapper Ye, formerly known as Kanye West, whose account was locked following his antisemtic remarks last month.
The reversal of suspensions has attracted widespread concerns and criticism. Safety experts and critics are reacting strongly to the billionaire’s decision, saying it will spark a surge in hate speech and misinformation.
“Superspreaders of hate, abuse and harassment will be the only people to benefit from this latest decision by Twitter,” said Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the UK-based nonprofit group, Center for Countering Digital Hate. “The choice for advertisers has never been starker: stick around and back Elon Musk, or protect their brands and ensure their marketing dollars aren’t used to enable the spread of hate, abuse and disinformation.”
Earlier, Musk assured Twitter users and dithering advertisers that there would be no reinstatements of suspended accounts until he had formed “a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints”. There was no official announcement of any such council convening, however.
Since Musk’s takeover, Twitter has plunged into chaos and uncertainty, with employees either being fired in bulk or leaving the company in droves of their own accord. A number of workers have refused to be part of the billionaire’s cultural reset and vision aligning with his “free speech absolutism”, which, ironically, he demonstrated by suspending verified accounts that parodied him in the wake of his multi-billion-dollar acquisition of the company. Musk’s plans to monetise the platform are also hovering in limbo after the recently rolled out paid subscription for verification badges imploded into a stream of imposter accounts, causing leading brands financial setbacks worth millions of dollars.