Twitter CEO Elon Musk announced on Friday that he was restoring three well-known accounts that had been suspended for violating the terms of service, but he said he had not yet made a decision about the account of former President Donald Trump.
Musk tweeted that “Trump decision has not yet been made” as Twitter users prepared for significant changes to the business he recently acquired.
Musk announced that he was bringing back the conservative satirical website Babylon Bee, scholar Jordan Peterson, and comic Kathy Griffin.
In January 2021, Twitter permanently suspended Trump’s account due to his involvement in the riot in the U.S. Capitol on January 6 and the likelihood of further violence. 88.8 million people were following Trump on Twitter at the time of his suspension.
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However, it appeared that the new Twitter owner was not planning to reinstate one account. Musk’s response to a user’s request to reinstate conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who has been ordered to pay over $1.5 billion in defamation damages, was one word, “No.”
In a tweet sent on Friday, Musk also started outlining a new strategy for content moderation, saying that he would permit “freedom of speech” but not “freedom of reach.”
He said that as a result, “hate tweets” will be given less weight in the platform’s algorithm while still being accessible. It was unclear if Musk had altered Twitter’s rules prohibiting harassment and hate speech.
You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically look for it, which is similar to how the rest of the Internet works, according to Musk.
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Musk clarified that this rule would only apply to specific tweets, not to whole accounts.
Hundreds of Twitter workers have reportedly chosen to leave the struggling social media business after new owner Musk gave them until Thursday to sign up for “long hours at high intensity” or quit.
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The departures show that some of Twitter’s 3,000 or so staff members are reluctant to stay at a firm where Musk already fired half of the workers, including top management, and is ruthlessly reshaping the culture to stress long hours and a fast pace.
Late on Thursday, Musk declared on Twitter that he was unconcerned about resignations since “the best people are staying.”
Without going into any detail, the billionaire also said, “We just hit another all-time high in Twitter usage…”
According to a current employee and a recently fired employee who is still in contact with Twitter coworkers, Musk spoke with a few key employees on Thursday to try to persuade them to stay, Reuters reported.
According to two individuals, the business also informed workers that it would close its offices and restrict badge access until Monday. According to one insider, security personnel started ejecting several employees from one office on Thursday night, the Reuters report added.
