Reversing Trump Twitter ban will provoke user backlash, Elon Musk warned
Elon Musk’s promise to reverse a Twitter ban on Donald Trump if he completes his takeover of the social media platform has prompted warnings that it will provoke a backlash among users and could clash with new internet safety laws.
The Tesla CEO and world’s richest man is in the process of buying Twitter for $44bn (£35.6bn) and has described himself as a “free speech absolutist” with doubts about imposing permanent bans on Twitter accounts such as Trump’s, which was suspended after the Capitol riot last January.
Musk confirmed on Tuesday that if he completed the deal he would lift the suspension on the former US president. “I would reverse the permanent ban,” he said, speaking via video link at a car industry conference organised by the Financial Times. “I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump. I think that was a mistake. It alienated the country and did not result in Donald Trump not having a voice. I think it was a morally bad decision and foolish in the extreme.”
Kirsten Martin, a professor of technology ethics at the University of Notre Dame in Chicago, said Musk would face a backlash if he reinstated Trump’s account. “If Musk is concerned that many people were upset that Trump was banned, he should see how many more people would be upset if Trump was not banned,” she said. “Musk only appears to be worried about the opinion of a small group of individuals who incite violence or perpetuate hate speech.”
Twitter lost hundreds of thousands of users in the days after Elon Musk announced his takeover deal, as prominent accounts, including Katy Perry and Barack Obama, lost followers. At the same time, some rightwing Twitter accounts gained followers, according to data from the analytics site Social Blade.
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