Elon Musk asks Twitter users to vote on reinstatement of Donald Trump
NEW YORK - Mr Elon Musk has asked his Twitter followers whether former President Donald Trump should be reinstated on the social media site.
With 23 hours left, the poll had more than 724,000 votes with about 62 per cent of respondents voting yes. Mr Trump was permanently banned from Twitter in 2021 “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.”
Twitter has reinstated the accounts of US comedian Kathy Griffin and academic Jordan Peterson, Mr Musk said on Friday, adding that a decision to bring back Mr Trump’s account was yet to be made.
Mr Musk confirmed the move in a tweet, adding that the account of satirical website Babylon Bee was also reinstated.
Mr Musk said in May he would reverse Twitter’s ban on Mr Trump, whose account on the social media platform was suspended after last year’s attack on the US Capitol.
The Tesla Inc chief earlier this month said Twitter users engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying it as a “parody” account would be permanently suspended without a warning.
The comment came as Ms Griffin’s account was banned earlier this month after the comedian changed her name to Elon Musk. The #FreeKathy hashtag was later circulating on Twitter.
Canadian psychologist Peterson was suspended from Twitter in June, before Mr Musk took over, following a post about transgender actor Elliot Page that broke the site’s rules on hateful conduct.
The Babylon Bee, a conservative parody site, was banned in March for similar tweets against Ms Rachel Levine, a trans woman serving as US assistant secretary of health.
Twitter last week paused its recently announced US$8 (S$11) blue check subscription service as fake accounts mushroomed.
The fake accounts purported to be big brands, including those of Mr Musk’s Tesla and SpaceX, as well as Roblox, Nestle and Lockheed Martin.
Meanwhile, technology experts believe that with Twitter's drastically reduced workforce - a result of the layoffs and resignations that followed Mr Musk's takeover - the platform has become extremely vulnerable to malfunctions. - BLOOMBERG, REUTERS, AFP
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