Musk says it could be weeks before ‘de-platformed’ users could return to Twitter
Elon Musk on Wednesday said “de-platformed” Twitter users will not return for at least a few weeks.
Before taking over Twitter on Thursday, Musk had previously vowed to reverse former President Trump’s permanent suspension on the platform, but Musk’s new tweet suggests Trump and others would not return to the platform until after the midterm elections.
“Twitter will not allow anyone who was de-platformed for violating Twitter rules back on platform until we have a clear process for doing so, which will take at least a few more weeks,” Musk wrote in response to a tweet from the company’s safety and integrity head about manipulation surrounding the midterm elections.
Musk added that he met with civil society leaders at the Anti-Defamation League, NAACP, League of United Latin American Citizens, Color of Change, Free Press, the Bush Center and the Asian American Foundation to discuss Twitter’s future harassment and election integrity policies.
Many of those leaders are fierce critics of Musk’s new ownership of Twitter.
The Tesla CEO has promised to change the platform’s content moderation policies, but critics have expressed worry that Musk’s reign will allow misinformation and hate speech to thrive on the platform.
“When the world’s richest man/owner of this very site himself traffics in conspiracy theories days after claiming to advertisers that he’s going to be a responsible leader, all I can say is: I’m not overreacting by expressing my concerns. Actions always speak louder than words,” tweeted Yael Eisenstat, who serves as vice president at the Anti-Defamation League and later met with Musk.
Musk has repeatedly indicated he will form a “content moderation council” before making any major changes to how Twitter adjusts its moderation policies.
“Twitter’s content moderation council will include representatives with widely divergent views, which will certainly include the civil rights community and groups who face hate-fueled violence,” he wrote early Wednesday morning.
Jessica González, the co-CEO of Free Press who also met with Musk, retweeted an article last week railing against the council that argues it provides “no substitute for real, independent regulation and oversight.”
“Just days ago Elon Musk promised Twitter advertisers that this site would not become an ‘anything-goes hell-scape.’ We got news for you. It already is,” González wrote in another tweet.
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