Elon Musk has confirmed the speculation.
On Tuesday, the world’s richest man said he would restore former President Donald Trump’s banned account on Twitter… if/when his deal to acquire the platform goes through.
Musk’s remarks took place at the Financial Times’ Future of the Car conference, and they represented his first public acknowledgment of what had been widely expected since the Tesla founder announced plans to buy the social media company.
“I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump, I think that was a mistake,” Musk said yesterday.
“I would reverse the perma-ban. … But my opinion, and Jack Dorsey, I want to be clear, shares this opinion, is that we should not have perma-bans.”
Dorsey — Twitter’s cofounder and former CEO — tweeted on Tuesday after Musk’s remarks went viral that he does “agree” there shouldn’t be permanent bans on users, writing:
“There are exceptions … but generally permanent bans are a failure of ours and don’t work.”
Trump lost his Twitter privileges following the January 6, 2021 riot in Washington D.C. because he violated the platform’s rules against violence incitement… a decision the company has said was headed by Dorsey.
Other social platforms, most notably Facebook and Instagram, followed in banning or suspending Trump’s account after this violent insurrection.
Musk, however, claims to be some sort of free speech advocate. He seemingly plans to let all voices simply run wild once he owns Twitter.
“Banning Trump from Twitter didn’t end Trump’s voice, it will amplify it among the right and this is why it’s morally wrong and flat out stupid,” Musk said at the aforementioned event on Tuesday.
Last week, Musk denied a claim that Trump had encouraged him to purchase Twitter, tweeting that he has had “no communication, directly or indirectly,” with the one-term Commander-in-Chief.
“I think [the ban] was a mistake because it alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice, he is now going to be on Truth Social, as will a large part of the, sort of the right in the United States,” continued Musk.
“And so I think this could end up being, frankly, worse than having a single forum where everyone can debate.”
Trump has not actually posted a single comment on Truth Social, the Conservative answer to Twitter that hasn’t exactly taken off around the country.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO acknowledged that his acquisition of Twitter, along with Trump’s return, are not yet a done deal.
“I will say that I don’t own Twitter yet, so this is not a thing that will definitely happen, because what if I don’t own Twitter?” Musk wondered out let yesterday.
This said, Musk also elaborated about his plans for the company if the takeover does come to fruition.
The businessman emphasized, for example, that he’ll get rid of bots promoting spam or scams — and make Twitter’s algorithm publicly available for anyone to view and comment on.
Elsewhere, Musk criticized what he believes to be Twitter’s political bias, echoing allegations from some prominent figures in the Republican party.
“I think Twitter needs to be much more evenhanded. It currently has a strong left bias because it’s based in San Francisco,” Musk said.
“I don’t think the people there necessarily intend, or at least some of them don’t intend, to have a left bias.
“They just, from their perspective, it seems moderate, but they’re just coming after it from an environment that is very far left.”
As fo Musk’s confusing stance on freedom of speech, which doesn’t apply in any way to a private corporation?
It “doesn’t mean that somebody gets to say whatever they want to say,” Musk explained.
“If they say something that is illegal or otherwise just destructive to the world, then there should perhaps be a time-out, a temporary suspension, or that particular tweet should be made invisible or have very limited traction.
“But I think permabans just fundamentally undermine trust in Twitter as a town square where everyone can voice their opinion.
“I think [banning Trump] was a morally bad decision, to be clear, and foolish in the extreme.”
