Elon Musk Says Twitter Won’t Restore Banned Accounts for Weeks – Elon Musk obliged early Wednesday morning that Twitter will not reinstate banned accounts for weeks, meaning that users such as former president Donald Trump will not be able to rejoin the social networking site before the midterm elections. Musk is currently assembling a content moderation council that will guide decisions regarding user bans and platform policing. Musk stated in a tweet that Twitter will not allow anyone back on the platform until there is a clear process for doing so, and that he had discussed his intentions with civil rights and activist leaders.
He said that Twitter will “continue to combat hate and harassment and enforce its election integrity principles.” Musk’s most recent comments may help address criticism from civil society groups and activists that his plan to relax Twitter’s content moderation practices and restore Trump’s account could open the door to a flood of dangerous misinformation in the final days preceding the midterm elections in 2022.
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Musk’s most recent comments may help address criticism from civil society groups and activists that his plan to relax Twitter’s content moderation practices and restore Trump’s account could open the door to a flood of dangerous misinformation in the final days preceding the midterm elections in 2022. Twitter has struggled at times to prevent the spread of false accusations of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election and to reduce suggestions of voter fraud in forthcoming campaigns.
Musk’s remarks followed a Tuesday meeting with several civil rights and activist organizations, including Color of Change, Free Press, the NAACP, and the Anti-Defamation League. This week, nearly 50 organizations signed a letter to Twitter’s top advertisers urging them to stop marketing on the social media site if “he follows through on his plans to undermine brand safety and community standards, including gutting content moderation.”
The organisations expressed alarm over the increase in hate speech and misinformation on the platform in the hours following Musk’s takeover. “Not only are extremists celebrating Musk’s takeover of Twitter, they are seeing it as a new opportunity to post the most abusive, harassing, and racist language and imagery,” the groups wrote.
The groups also chastised Musk for publicly advocating for the reinstatement of the accounts “of prominent individuals Twitter had suspended for inciting and glorifying political violence.” Musk has denounced permanent bans and stated that he will restore Trump’s account. Following the assault on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, Twitter banned him.
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Musk explained his reasoning at an event hosted by the Financial Times in May, where he referred to the ban as a “mistake” and stated that it “was a morally bad decision, to be clear, and extremely foolish.” Musk stated, in general, that interim suspensions may be permissible in cases where such action may be necessary.
Musk has supported content moderation measures that are grounded in free speech and do little more than the minimum required by law. Musk tweeted last week an open letter promising Twitter will not become a “free-for-all hellscape” in a bid to attract advertisers to his new network, who normally do not want their advertisements to show alongside problematic content.
