Elon Musk says it will overturn Twitter’s Donald Trump ban

Elon Musk said Twitter would overturn former President Donald Trump’s ban and show how tolerant the platform would be to free speech under his possession once the acquisition of a social media company was completed. rice field.

Tesla’s CEO spoke at a de facto car conference on Tuesday, and Twitter’s ban on Trump after the riots at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021 is a “morally bad decision” and “extremely stupid.” Said.

“I think it was a mistake because it alienated most of the country and eventually Donald Trump did not lose his say,” Musk said, illegally or otherwise “destroying the world.” do”.

Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey agrees In a tweet on Tuesday In it, he said, “In general, permanent bans are our failure and do not work.”

Twitter’s share price fell 1.5% on Tuesday to $ 47.24 per share. That’s 13% below Musk’s $ 54.20 per share offer on April 14. This reflects Wall Street’s concern that the transaction may still fail. Musk emphasized on Tuesday that it was “certainly not a deal.”

Musk has repeatedly criticized Twitter’s content moderation decisions, including banning Trump for “incitement to violence,” but rarely says what he does about Trump’s account. Was there. He was asked for details on Tuesday by Peter Campbell, a correspondent for the Financial Times, who hosted the car conference.

Karsten Martin, a professor of technical ethics at the University of Notre Dame, said: “Musk seems to be worried only about the opinions of a few individuals who incite violence or perpetuate malicious expressions.”

Trump previously said he wouldn’t return to Twitter if his account revived, and told Fox News last month that he would focus on his platform, Truth Social, which has been plagued since its launch earlier this year. Told.

Musk said on Tuesday that Trump would go to Truth Social with “most” of US political rights and create a frankly worse situation than having a single forum where everyone can discuss these claims. Seemed to be taken at face value. “

A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to requests for comment in response to Musk’s remarks.

While Trump was president, his Twitter persona often served as a combination of sudden policy announcements. Media complaints. The contempt of women, minorities and his perceived enemies; and praise his supporters, filled with exclamation marks, all capital letters, and word declarations such as “sad!”.

He fired numerous officials on Twitter, and his posts were a torrent of false information, like a speech at a rally.

When Twitter read in the context of the Capitol riots when it announced a ban on Trump in 2021, his tweet was equivalent to beautification of violence and for future armed protests over President Joe Biden’s inauguration. Said that it plans to spread online.

Musk’s remarks on Tuesday raise the question of whether banned people other than Trump can also return. A long list of people banned from Twitter includes QAnon supporters, COVID denials, neo-Nazis, and former reality star Tila Tequila, who was suspended for hate speech.

Other Trump allies that launched Twitter include Michael Flynn and Sidney Powell, and L. Lin Wood and Marjorie Taylor Greene.

White supremacist David Duke and the often violent Proud Boys organization were banned, and the far-right trawl called Baked Alaska was also banned. ..

Alex Jones, the creator of Infowars, was permanently banned in 2018 due to abuse. Last year, Jones lost a defamation proceeding filed by the parents of children killed in 2012 in Newtown, Connecticut.

Twitter said Tuesday that it currently has a strong prejudice to the left, as it is primarily in San Francisco. This alleged prejudice has prevented it from building trust in other parts of the United States and around the world, he said.

Twitter declined to comment on Musk’s remarks.

Earlier on Tuesday, Musk said he supported a new European Union law aimed at protecting social media users from harmful content after meeting with a single market manager for Brock.

EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton told The Associated Press Tuesday to confirm that online regulation of blocks supports freedom of speech while at the same time that everything illegal is “banned in digital space.” He told Musk that he had outlined what he was doing. .. “

Breton on video Tweet At the end of Monday, Musk said the two had a “great discussion” and agreed to the Digital Services Act, which is expected to get final approval later this year. This allows major high-tech companies such as Twitter, Google, and Facebook’s parent Meta to more closely monitor the platform for illegal or harmful content such as malicious language and disinformation, and fines billions of dollars. Will be imposed.

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O’Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island. Krisher reported from Detroit. The Associated Press writer, David Klepper, contributed from Providence, Rhode Island.