In a surprising move, Twitter has lifted the "permanent suspension" of former U.S. President Donald Trump's account.
The move follows a Twitter poll ran by Elon Musk that asked users whether to reinstate Trump's account—the majority of 15 million respondents answered affirmatively.
Free speech or King Elon's free rein
Many are shocked to see the @realDonaldTrump account back on Twitter while others are cheering "welcome back," as Twitter restores Donald Trump's account along with its data and followers as they were pre-"permanent suspension."
Twitter's 180 degree turn comes after roughly 52% of all respondents voted to bring back Trump's presence to Twitterverse, in a poll started by the platform's CEO Elon Musk:
15,000,000 votes gushed in at the rate of about 1 million votes every hour.
"The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei," tweeted Musk today.
Like the 2016 U.S. Presidential election itself, the controversial decision has left Twitter polarized.
WELCOME BACK MR PRESIDENT https://t.co/40rRMRwIPB
— Jack Posobiec (@JackPosobiec) November 20, 2022
Welcome back, @realdonaldtrump.
— Candace Owens (@RealCandaceO) November 20, 2022
Elon Musk really did free the bird.
Free speech is making a comeback.
Welcome back, America.
HE’S BACK. TRUMP IS BACK and the LEFT IS HAVING A HEART ATTACK
— Terrence K. Williams (@w_terrence) November 20, 2022
Welcome Back Mr. President @realdonaldtrump
Thank you Elon Musk for doing the right thing. Trump’s Twitter account should have never been banned.
Raise your hand if you agree #trumpisback #Trump2024 pic.twitter.com/1u66hSDONb
Just in case you all forgot, these are President Donald Trump’s last two tweets. pic.twitter.com/tBnU2T0BYK
— Errol Webber (@ErrolWebber) November 19, 2022
And those displeased about the development and citing safety concerns are a plenty:
Idk man, last time he was here this platform was used to incite an insurrection, multiple people died, the Vice President of the United States was nearly assassinated, and hundreds were injured but I guess that’s not enough for you to answer the question. Twitter poll it is https://t.co/TVEkEH7faR
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) November 19, 2022
With Trump back on Twitter,
— Rep. Liz Cheney (@RepLizCheney) November 20, 2022
it’s a good time to watch this Jan 6 hearing. It covers each of Trump’s tweets that day, including those that have been deleted, and features multiple Trump WH staff describing his inexcusable conduct during the violence. https://t.co/pVSGKf5q0P
And yet still a fucking loser.
— Mary L Trump (@MaryLTrump) November 20, 2022
"Permanent" suspension not so permanent
In January 2021, Twitter had permanently suspended Trump's account citing concerns that his tweets may cause further violence in the United States amid the Capitol riots.
Back then, Twitter had given several reasons before booting Trump off of the platform for good. These reasons included:
- President Trump's statement that he will not be attending the Inauguration is being received by a number of his supporters as further confirmation that the election was not legitimate and is seen as him disavowing his previous claim made via two Tweets (1, 2) by his Deputy Chief of Staff, Dan Scavino, that there would be an "orderly transition" on January 20th.
- The second Tweet may also serve as encouragement to those potentially considering violent acts that the Inauguration would be a “safe” target, as he will not be attending.
- The use of the words "American Patriots" to describe some of his supporters is also being interpreted as support for those committing violent acts at the US Capitol.
- The mention of his supporters having a "GIANT VOICE long into the future" and that "They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!" is being interpreted as further indication that President Trump does not plan to facilitate an "orderly transition" and instead that he plans to continue to support, empower, and shield those who believe he won the election.
- Plans for future armed protests have already begun proliferating on and off-Twitter, including a proposed secondary attack on the US Capitol and state capitol buildings on January 17, 2021.
Trump indifferent
As to whether Trump will actually be using Twitter to engage with his followers, it does not seem so.
At the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual leadership meeting held this weekend, Trump responded to a panelist with:
"[Elon] did put up a poll and I hear it's very overwhelming, very strong," but that he prefers to stick to the Trump-owned "Truth Social" platform that is doing "phenomenally well" in terms of engagement, touts the former president.
"I don't see any reason for it," responded Trump on his plans to returning to Twitter, mainly citing "a lot of problems you see on Twitter," including "negative" engagements and presence of a lot of bots.
Simultaneously, Mastodon has seen an explosive growth with millions flocking to the social media alternative amid ongoing Twitter fallout.
Today's decision is the latest among a series of Twitter shakeups following Musk's takeover, including sudden leadership changes, mass resignations, Twitter Blue paid verification system which has led to abuse by crypto scammers and phishing actors.
Unsurprisingly, in King Elon's world, hardly anything seems permanent.
Comments
buddy215 - 1 year ago
Twitter didn't ban TASS....while banning the USA's #1 terrorist....not banning TASS shows it was rather inconsistent in its enforcement rules.
EndangeredPootisBird - 1 year ago
Twitter is such an dumpster fire.
FromChromeToBrave - 1 year ago
You will be fine buddy.
OldPhil - 1 year ago
I stayed up on election night and saw the vote switch around 2AM, anyone who believes the nonsense that it was not rigged has become the left's pawn!
EndangeredPootisBird - 1 year ago
Youre relying too much on your own point of view and personal anecdotes, not on scientific evidence.
ThomasMann - 1 year ago
While this true, most certainly there has never been an election where nobody cheated. It is nopt possible to prevent this, especially a huge country like the US.
The question is: Was the cheating decisive enough to have an influence on the official result?
It could be, it could far from having such an influence.
Point is: NO ONE knows. So the ones that say there was no cheating are as much liers as the ones that say cheating decided the election.
There were a few quite obvious problems, kalmly is correct there....
The Germans actually, in a similar case, decided last week to repeat the whole election in Berlin.
kalmly - 1 year ago
Thank you, Elon, and thanks to Bleeping, for the article. This is one of the very few tech sites left that allow comments and don't spout political "disinformation".
EndangeredPootisBird - 1 year ago
Ever considered if that "disinformation" youre spouting of actually IS disinformation?
ThomasMann - 1 year ago
THAT IS NOT THE POiNT !
In a democracy worth the name, it is essential that there be free speech! And free speech means that those with a different opinion from YOU are allowed free speech. It is good that twitter allows the orange haires monkey, it is NOT good that this was democratically decided! Just because maybe the enemies of free speech might in the US be very well the majority, free speech should NEVER be interfered with!
I dislike Trump as much as the next person does, but I find the democratic candidates as disgusting. And in the name of the rest of the world I will refute anyone who denies that Trump was the one president in the last 80 years to NOT start a war. He is to be commended for this!
The details can be found in a Congressional Research Paper from March 8, 2022, with the title:
"Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798-2022" , availanle on the Internet.
You can also see the numbers on Wikipedia.
The really bad news, especially for Americans who are not retarded is, that even Trump is better than politically correct morons, who it seems, have taken over the planet....
kalmly - 1 year ago
Hey, I don't want to shut anyone up. I was raised on "To each his own" and everyone is free to say whatever they wish.
kalmly - 1 year ago
Uh, I listen to both sides. Read whatever I can find, looking for facts.
ZeroYourHero - 1 year ago
Trump turned down Elon's offer to return to Twitter.
Winston2021 - 1 year ago
I didn't know free and legal speech was up to a vote. Anyway, not a big Orange Man fan. Can't stand pols in general. "Q: How do you know when politicians are lying? A: Their lips are moving."
Digitalbean - 1 year ago
I wonder if the Saudis spent $44B to destroy Twitter.