WASHINGTON: Twitter CEO Elon Musk has put up a poll asking users of the microblogging website to vote on whether to reinstate the account of former US President Donald Trump, who was earlier subjected to a lifetime ban over incitement of violence. “Reinstate former President Trump,” the billionaire Twitter owner posted, with a chance to […]
Oct 29: "To be super clear, we have not yet made any changes to Twitter's content moderation policies," he tweeted.
Earlier he announced the creation of a new council to moderate posts.
He also tweeted that "anyone suspended for minor & dubious reasons" would be "freed from Twitter jail".
"Comedy is now legal on Twitter," he said.
Senior figures at Twitter have announced their exits since Mr Musk took over after long delays to the deal.
Questions are focused on Mr Musk's future plans for the site.
The potential changes have drawn scrutiny from regulators and divided Twitter's own users, some of whom are worried Mr Musk will loosen regulations governing hate speech and misinformation, and some of whom feel the previous management curtailed free speech with overly rigorous rules.
Mr Musk said Twitter would be forming a council with "widely diverse viewpoints".
"No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes," he said, shortly before confirming that Twitter had ended artist Kanye West's suspension from the platform before his acquisition.
Rapper Kanye West, known as Ye, had been suspended from the platform for anti-Semitic comments.
Finance chief Ned Segal was among the senior leaders to announce his exit from the company after Musk's takeover. Chairman of the board Bret Taylor has also left and it was widely reported that Twitter's chief executive Parag Agrawal - a target of Mr Musk's criticism - was among the people fired, although Mr Agrawal still has "ceo @twitter" on his Twitter profile.
General Motors - the largest US carmaker and a rival to Mr Musk's Tesla - says it has temporarily halted paid advertising on Twitter. GM said it was "engaging with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership".
"The bird is free," Mr Musk wrote on the platform late on Thursday, while assuring advertisers in a public note that he did not want Twitter to become a "free-for-all hellscape".
He has signalled he wants widespread change at Twitter. A self-styled "free speech absolutist", he has said he sees the platform as a forum for public debate and is willing to reverse bans on controversial users, including former President Donald Trump.
Ex-finance chief Segal tweeted that his time at the company was the "most fulfilling of my career" and reflected on the strain caused by the uncertainty of the last six months.
"You learn so much when times are challenging and unpredictable, when we are tired or feel our integrity questioned," Mr Segal said, alluding to Mr Musk's public criticism of the company's leadership.
"I have great hope for Twitter," he added.
In Europe, the commissioner in charge of overseeing the EU's digital market, Thierry Breton, tweeted: "In Europe, the bird will fly by our EU rules" - suggesting regulators will take a tough stance against any relaxation of Twitter's policies.
In the US, Stop the Deal, a coalition of left-wing activist groups including Fair Vote UK and Media Matters for America, said Mr Musk had a "thirst for chaos" and his potential plans would make Twitter "an even more hate-filled cesspool, leading to irreparable real-world harm".
Mr Trump, who was banned from Twitter last year following the Capitol riot in January 2021, said he was happy Twitter was now in "sane hands" while stating his "love" for his own Twitter-like service, Truth Social.
Dmitry Medvedev, Russia's former president and current deputy head of the Security Council, also welcomed the new ownership.
"Good luck @elonmusk in overcoming political bias and ideological dictatorship on Twitter," tweeted Mr Medvedev.
APRIL 26: Human rights groups have raised concerns that a lack of moderation could lead to a rise in hate speech.
Many Twitter users are also asking whether this means accounts suspended by the company will be allowed back.
The most high-profile person to have been suspended was Donald Trump.
After the news of the deal was announced, human rights groups raised concerns about hate speech on Twitter and the power it would give Mr Musk, who is a self-described "free speech absolutist".
He has been vocal in his criticism of the platform's policies on moderating content, arguing that Twitter needs to be a genuine forum for free speech.
In a statement after striking the deal he described free speech as "the bedrock of a functioning democracy".
In a Twitter thread, Amnesty International said: "We are concerned with any steps that Twitter might take to erode enforcement of the policies and mechanisms designed to protect users.
"The last thing we need is a Twitter that wilfully turns a blind eye to violent and abusive speech against users, particularly those most disproportionately impacted, including women, non-binary persons, and others."
Twitter did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment on the concerns raised.
Will Trump return?
Donald Trump's account was terminated permanently last year in the wake of the 6 January riots at the Capitol building in Washington.
But even if his Twitter ban is reversed, Mr Trump says he does not plan to return to Twitter, instead opting to use his own platform, Truth Social.
"I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on Truth," Mr Trump told Fox News.
He added that he believed Mr Musk, who he called a "good man", will "make improvements" to the platform.
Representatives of Mr Trump did not immediately respond to a BBC request for comment.
Ming-Chi Kuo, a technology analyst at investment management firm TF International Securities, told the BBC that Mr Trump may decide to return to the platform if he runs in the 2024 US presidential election.
"Twitter is still a better choice for him to have a voice, if Twitter is willing to restore his account," Mr Kuo said.
"It's not easy to build a platform with more influence than Twitter before the next presidential election."
Will people leave Twitter?
Mr Musk said that he hopes that even his strongest critics will remain on the platform "because that is what free speech means".
However, some users have threatened to leave Twitter, while others have already quit.
British actor Jameela Jamil, who is best known for her role in TV series The Good Place, said she expects the platform to "become an even more lawless, hateful, xenophobic, bigoted, misogynistic space".
"I would like this to be my... last tweet," Ms Jamil told her one million followers.
Meanwhile, Caroline Orr Bueno, a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Maryland, said that for now she will stay on the platform, where she has more than 450,000 followers.
Ms Bueno said "we have no idea what it will look like under Elon Musk's leadership".
"What we do know is that if all the decent people leave, it'll get bad here a whole lot faster," she added.
Dan Ives, an analyst at investment firm Wedbush Securities, told the BBC that he expects most users to "take a wait-and-see approach".
"Now it's about courting new users and stopping defectors from the platform," Mr Ives said.
Uncertainty lies ahead
The 11-member board of Twitter unanimously agreed to Mr Musk's $44bn (£34.5bn) offer.
Jack Dorsey, who co-founded Twitter and still sits on its board, said he was happy the platform "will continue to serve the public conversation", even though he does not believe "anyone should own or run Twitter".
"It wants to be a public good at a protocol level, not a company," Mr Dorsey said in a tweet on Tuesday.
"Solving for the problem of it being a company however, Elon is the singular solution I trust," Mr Dorsey added. "I trust his mission to extend the light of consciousness."
Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal has also addressed employees at a meeting, where he said the future of the company was uncertain, according to the Reuters news agency.
"Once the deal closes, we don't know which direction the platform will go," Mr Agrawal reportedly said.
Politicians react
On Monday, White House spokesperson Jen Psaki told reporters that US President Joe Biden "has long been concerned about the power of large social media platforms", whoever owns or runs Twitter.
Democrat Senator Elizabeth Warren said the deal was "dangerous for our democracy", while pushing for a wealth tax and "strong rules to hold Big Tech accountable".
Meanwhile, Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn welcomed the agreement as "an encouraging day for freedom of speech".
With inputs from BCC
