Is it true that Elon Musk offers general amnesty to suspended Twitter accounts starting next week? The Twitter CEO has done something out of the box again. Over 3 million Twitter users participated in a poll conducted by Musk yesterday.
After pulling out a poll asking if he should offer amnesty to suspended accounts, 72.4% voted yes, while 27.6% voted no.
Should Twitter offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 23, 2022
‘General amnesty’ is Musk’s gentle welcome to the toxic Twitter accounts
Musk decided to welcome these accounts back to the site, despite causing many controversies and harm.
It’s the next major decision he has made since taking over the site and unbanning former President Donald Trump. For your information, Trump’s Twitter account was banned for more than 22 months. It was since the pro-Tump mob attacked the U.S. Capitol on 6 January 2021.
Musk’s decision to reinstate these accounts clashes with his initial promise: to create a diverse council helping adjudicate serious moderation decisions. Furthermore, this general amnesty will only resurface the horrendous abuse, harassment and misinformation spread by these banned accounts.
When will it begin?
There are no definite dates stated by Musk. He only tweeted it would be next week.
The people have spoken.
Amnesty begins next week.
Vox Populi, Vox Dei.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2022
Amid the chaos, Musk assures accounts that broke the law or engaged in appalling spam wouldn’t be given amnesty.
It contradicts his bare-minimum standards of beyond the law-breaking. Even though he spent a lot of time engaging with other complaints, he signalled opposition to the idea of allowing someone like Alex Jones back on the bluebird app.
Nevertheless, the restoration process will likely spread other unwanted consequences. This particularly applies in regions where Twitter’s moderation and compliance capacities are deprived by Musk.
At this point, to be frank, it’s uncertain what Musk’s next agenda would be. It’s a neverending guessing game that leaves everyone anxious about what’s to come.
Sources: Twitter Elon Musk, The Verge, The New York Times
