Days after reinstating Donald Trump’s account following a poll, Twitter’s new owner and CEO Elon Musk on Wednesday launched another survey asking people whether the social media platform should offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts. “Should Twitter offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam?” Musk asked in a tweet.
The Twitter chief’s this poll comes just days after he reinstated former US President Donald Trump’s account on the social media platform. Twitter had suspended Trump’s account two days after a mob stormed the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Musk on November 19 launched a poll asking people whether Trump’s account should be reinstated. A day later, he announced that the account would be restored as 51.8 per cent of people were for it. More than 15 million people participated in that survey.
The Tesla chief bought Twitter in a $44 billion deal after a series of back-and-forths. Soon after taking over, he fired the top leadership including CEO Parag Agrawal.
Musk, who calls himself a free speech absolutist, in a letter, said the reason he acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence. He claimed that he was buying Twitter not to make more money but to try to help humanity.
Musk, however, said: “Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!”.
In addition to adhering to the laws of the land, he said, Twitter must be warm and welcoming to all, “where you can choose your desired experience according to your preferences, just as you can choose, for example, to see movies or play video games ranging from all ages to mature”.
