Musk Says Perma-Bans On Twitter Undermine Trust And Plans To Reinstate Trump

Elon Musk confirmed his plan to reinstate Donald Trump's Twitter account if the sale of the social media platform goes through. The tech mogul currently has a $44 billion bid to buy Twitter.

The potential of Trump's account being reinstated has been the source of ire for some, and jubilation for others. While speaking at a Financial Times conference, Musk responded to the question of whether or not he would reinstate the former president's Twitter account if he ends up owning the social media platform. As far as Musk is concerned, the decision to bar Trump in the first place was a "morally bad decision."

"I think perma-bans fundamentally undermine trust in Twitter as a town square where everyone can voice their opinion," Instead of a permanent ban when someone crosses the line, Musk believes there should instead be some sort of time-out or a temporary suspension. He also stated that the particular tweet in question should possibly be deleted, made invisible, or have very limited traction.

The entrepreneur has made no secret of his belief in free speech, calling himself a "free speech absolutist" in a past tweet. He has said in the past that Twitter has been overly aggressive with its policing of the platform in order to remove hate speech and harassment. It is important to note that the First Amendment does not bar private companies, such as Twitter, from restricting speech, which has its own rules concerning what you can and cannot post on the sites.

In regard to the ban of Trump's Twitter account, Musk said, "It was not correct to ban Donald Trump. I think that was a mistake because it alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice." Musk continued, "He is now going to be on Truth Social, as will a large part of the right in the United States. So I think this could be frankly worse than having a single forum where everyone can debate."

Since Trump was banned from Twitter, he has started his own social network, called Truth Social. The platform had a rocky start, but has since topped the charts on Apple since its release in February. The former president was asked recently if he would return to Twitter if his ban was lifted, and he said he would not.

Twitter released a blog post last year in regard to the perma-ban on Donald Trump. The company decided that Trump's last two tweets were "likely to inspire others to replicate the violent acts that took place on January 6, 2021," so it made the move to permanently ban the account.

Top Image Courtesy of Daniel Oberhaus (2018)