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Elon Musk would reverse Donald Trump's Twitter ban

By Jennifer Meierhans
BBC Business reporter

8 minutes ago

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Elon Musk says if his bid to buy Twitter is successful he will reverse Donald Trump's ban from the platform.

The richest man in the world agreed a $44bn (£34.5bn) takeover bid with the Twitter board last month.

But he said it was not a done deal and that ideally it would be completed in the next two to three months.

Twitter's decision to ban the former US president was "morally wrong and flat-out stupid", Mr Musk told the Financial Times Future of the Car summit.

In January 2021, Twitter said the former US president's account was "permanently suspended...due to the risk of further incitement of violence" following the storming of the Capitol.

But the Tesla owner told the Financial Times: "I would reverse the permanent ban but I don't own Twitter yet."

"Banning Donald Trump didn't end Trump's voice. It will amplify it among the right," he said.

Mr Musk said banning Mr Trump was a "morally bad decision and foolish in the extreme".

He pointed out that Mr Trump had previously said he would not return to Twitter even if his account was reinstated.

Mr Musk said he had spoken to Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey on the subject of locking users out of their social media accounts in response to offensive tweets.

"He and I are of the same mind that permanent bans should be extremely rare and reserved for accounts that are bots or scam accounts," he said.

"I do think that it was not correct to ban Donald Trump. I think that was a mistake because it alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice."

He said if someone tweeted something "illegal or otherwise destructive to the world" there should be temporary suspension or the post should be made invisible.

Mr Musk said he believed Twitter needed to build more trust by sharing its algorithm and asking people to make suggestions on how to improve it.

He said the company had a strong left bias because of its origins in the San Francisco tech community and needed to be "more even-handed".

"Victory would be the far right 10% and the far left 10% are equally upset," he said.

Elon Musk says he would reverse Twitter's 'foolish' ban on Donald Trump

The tycoon said: "Permanent bans should be extremely rare and really reserved for accounts that are bots or spam, scam accounts. I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump. I think that was a mistake because it... did not ultimately result in Trump not having a voice."

Tuesday 10 May 2022 19:43, UK

Billionaire Elon Musk, who is set to buy Twitter, has said he would reverse the platform's "foolish" ban on former US president Donald Trump if his acquisition goes through.

The tech tycoon said: "Permanent bans should be extremely rare and really reserved for accounts that are bots or spam, scam accounts. I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump.

"I think that was a mistake because it alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice."

"I would reverse the permanent ban," Mr Musk added. "I don't own Twitter yet. So this is not like a thing that will definitely happen, because what if I don't own Twitter?"

Mr Musk went on: "I think permanent bans just fundamentally undermine trust in Twitter as a town square where everyone can voice their opinion. I think it was a morally bad decision [to ban him] and foolish in the extreme."

He claimed his disapproval for permanent bans was shared by Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey.

Speaking to the Financial Times at a summit, Mr Musk said Mr Trump is "now going to be on Truth Social [another social media platform] as will a large part of the right in the United States and so I think this can frankly end up worse than having a single form where everyone can debate".

Mr Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter in January 2021 following the attack by his supporters on the US Capitol.

The tech company said it made the decision after the 6 January riot "due to the risk of further incitement of violence".

Mr Trump at the time had more than 80 million followers on the platform.

But once Mr Musk announced he was interested in taking over the company in part to make it a free speech platform, questions arose about whether he would invite Mr Trump back on.

Mr Trump said last month he would not return to the company if he had the chance.

"No, I won't be going back on Twitter," the former president told CNBC's Joe Kernen.

"I will be on Truth Social within the week. Its on schedule. We have a lot of people signed up. I like Elon Musk. I like him a lot. He's an excellent individual. We did a lot for Twitter when I was in the White House. I was disappointed by the way I was treated by Twitter. I won't be going back on Twitter," he said.