Elon Musk has done something that he had promised to do months ago. And in case you haven’t guessed by now, we’re referring to reinstating ex-US President Donald Trump’s account on the app.
After the violent Capitol Riots in DC on January 6, the platform made the difficult decision to ban the former leader from posting by suspending his account until further notice. It was a huge deal as the period was crucial with the upcoming election campaign results due soon. Let’s not forget how Trump has always been so vocal with his decisions and opinions so it was definitely a huge deal.
Now, experts are talking about the consequences related to ad spending and factors like content moderation testing the limits of the app’s team.
In November, we saw Elon Musk purchase the Twitter firm for a staggering $44 billion, and yesterday, he sent out a poll to users and used them whether or not he should reinstate Donald Trump’s account. Around 15 million people sent in their votes while around 134 million had witnessed the poll go live.
Musk Tweeted soon afterward how the people had spoken and a staggering 52% felt it was high time that he returned. But it’s so interesting because Donald Trump has previously spoken about how he just does not feel that he should return to the app.
Speaking during a conference on November 19, the country’s former commander-in-chief added how there was simply no reason for it and also highlighted how the platform had a lot of problems going on and simply wouldn’t be able to make the cut.
But again, you never know because he’s got a history of saying one thing and doing another. And the fact that he’s up for Presidency for the 2024 bid might give us a clear indication of plans he has in store next.
In a span of just a few hours, Trump’s account managed to get back so many followers and they continued to pile up with every passing second.
Today, the account has around 83 million followers and that’s way more than he’s ever had in the past. But despite such news taking over the world of media, we can boldly say that the decision intervenes with Musk’s promise that a new content moderation council by Twitter would be set up to ensure such decisions don’t have any major conflict.
He was seen speaking about how no huge reinstatements could ever occur if the council moved forward and opted to intervene.
One ex-employee from Twiter who used to manage the advertising sales division says such a move could really end up biting Elon Musk in the backside. After all, it’s a grim reality of how we just might see some of the biggest advertisers suspend their operations in lieu of such a move on the app.
Even the head of Bot Sentinel which is a platform that tracks inauthentic behavior on leading social media apps mentioned how these types of decisions are major U-turns in policies. It could end up causing a negative effect on the app as well as on society. Moreover, he called the decision not only irresponsible but absolutely senseless as Trump had been banned because he started to spread a lot of disinformation linked to the elections.
And seeing Twitter’s current content moderation team downsized further makes you wonder how fast untruths might be spreading through this app and it’s worrying, to say the least.
Similarly, there are fears that the ex-US President might serve as an unnecessary lightning rod who attracts others and spreads disinformation while sowing disharmony.
Many can’t even begin to imagine the types of conspiracy theories at play where he tried to spark so much toxicity and abuse through this app in the US. And that means Elon Musk is literally playing with the likes of America’s democracy.
Read next: More Chaos On Twitter As App’s Copyright System Collapses While Racist Posts Dominate
After the violent Capitol Riots in DC on January 6, the platform made the difficult decision to ban the former leader from posting by suspending his account until further notice. It was a huge deal as the period was crucial with the upcoming election campaign results due soon. Let’s not forget how Trump has always been so vocal with his decisions and opinions so it was definitely a huge deal.
Now, experts are talking about the consequences related to ad spending and factors like content moderation testing the limits of the app’s team.
In November, we saw Elon Musk purchase the Twitter firm for a staggering $44 billion, and yesterday, he sent out a poll to users and used them whether or not he should reinstate Donald Trump’s account. Around 15 million people sent in their votes while around 134 million had witnessed the poll go live.
Musk Tweeted soon afterward how the people had spoken and a staggering 52% felt it was high time that he returned. But it’s so interesting because Donald Trump has previously spoken about how he just does not feel that he should return to the app.
Speaking during a conference on November 19, the country’s former commander-in-chief added how there was simply no reason for it and also highlighted how the platform had a lot of problems going on and simply wouldn’t be able to make the cut.
But again, you never know because he’s got a history of saying one thing and doing another. And the fact that he’s up for Presidency for the 2024 bid might give us a clear indication of plans he has in store next.
In a span of just a few hours, Trump’s account managed to get back so many followers and they continued to pile up with every passing second.
Today, the account has around 83 million followers and that’s way more than he’s ever had in the past. But despite such news taking over the world of media, we can boldly say that the decision intervenes with Musk’s promise that a new content moderation council by Twitter would be set up to ensure such decisions don’t have any major conflict.
He was seen speaking about how no huge reinstatements could ever occur if the council moved forward and opted to intervene.
One ex-employee from Twiter who used to manage the advertising sales division says such a move could really end up biting Elon Musk in the backside. After all, it’s a grim reality of how we just might see some of the biggest advertisers suspend their operations in lieu of such a move on the app.
Even the head of Bot Sentinel which is a platform that tracks inauthentic behavior on leading social media apps mentioned how these types of decisions are major U-turns in policies. It could end up causing a negative effect on the app as well as on society. Moreover, he called the decision not only irresponsible but absolutely senseless as Trump had been banned because he started to spread a lot of disinformation linked to the elections.
And seeing Twitter’s current content moderation team downsized further makes you wonder how fast untruths might be spreading through this app and it’s worrying, to say the least.
Similarly, there are fears that the ex-US President might serve as an unnecessary lightning rod who attracts others and spreads disinformation while sowing disharmony.
Many can’t even begin to imagine the types of conspiracy theories at play where he tried to spark so much toxicity and abuse through this app in the US. And that means Elon Musk is literally playing with the likes of America’s democracy.
Read next: More Chaos On Twitter As App’s Copyright System Collapses While Racist Posts Dominate
