The permanent ban placed on former President Donald Trump from Twitter if he eventually completes the purchase of the giant social media channel.
Recall that on January 6, 2021, Twitter banned Trump after his supporters invaded the U.S. Capitol. Twitter stated that Trump had broken its rules against inciting violence and decided to remove him “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.” Twitter was the first major social media platform to ban the former president, a move which other platforms, including Facebook and YouTube, followed.
While reacting to Trump’s ban, Musk said, “I 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.” Although Trump has said, he will not return to Twitter even if the ban is lifted.
Musk has claimed he wants to buy Twitter to encourage more free speech. And he had also argued that the platform should only ban accounts in rare cases to remove bots, spammers, and scammers “where there’s just no legitimacy to the account at all.” He further claimed permanent bans “undermine trust.”
Jack Dorsey, co-founder and former chief executive, also supported the view that Twitter should not have permanent bans. In his tweet, he stated, “Generally, permanent bans are a failure of ours and don’t work.”
Reactions
The plan to reinstate Trump has been met with criticism from different quarters. Sumayyah Waheed of the civil rights group “Muslim Advocates” and a member of Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council, which advises the company on its policies and products, stated that “What Musk proposes to do with the platform would represent a severe backslide in favour of allowing hate and misinformation that would put our communities in even more danger.
Trump used that platform to encourage false conspiracies about the election, all to undermine democracy and ensure that he could remain in office. As part of that effort, he inspired a violent mob to storm the U.S. Capitol, which resulted in multiple deaths.
He used his Twitter account to downplay the insurrectionists’ actions during and after the insurrection. If this does not merit being banned from the platform, then I’m terrified of what else would be allowed under Musk’s watch.”
On the other hand, American Civil Liberties Union director Anthony Romero said the “decision to re-platform Trump is the right call.” “Like it or not, President Trump is one of the most important political figures in this country, and the public is interested in hearing his speech,” Romero stated.
