Elon Musk: Vizioni i ri për Twitter-in?
Just after Elon Musk took control of Twitter, some conservative figures wasted no time to enter the platform and to circulate conspiracy theories in an attempt to “test” whether Twitter’s misinformation policies were still being enforced.
While no immediate policy change had been announced until Friday afternoon, that did not stop users from cheering or criticizing what they expect to be a quick embrace of Musk’s promises to curtail moderation in the name of promoting free speech.
In a Tuesday afternoon Tweet, Mr. Musk said Twitter will form a “content moderation council with broad viewpoints” and that “no significant content decisions or account reactivations will happen before that council is formed”.
But for much of the day, those who welcomed Musk’s call to make Twitter a haven for “free speech” were eager to see how far they could go.
Known right-wing experts posted on Twitter such words as “ivermectin” and “Trump won” to see if they would be penalized for the content. Ivermectin, a cheap drug that kills parasites in humans and animals, has been promoted by some Republican lawmakers and conservative talk show hosts as an effective way to treat COVID-19. But health experts have warned that there is little evidence to support the belief that the drug works.
In a letter aimed at soothing advertisers’ fears, Mr. Musk pledged Thursday that Twitter will not be “an unfettered hell-scape for all, where anything goes consequence-free.”
But it’s still unclear what will happen with the social media platform – and what will be tolerated. Observers are watching to see who will stay, who will be removed, and who might potentially return from the roster of people the platform has banned over the years. They range from Donald Trump, to conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, and former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke – none of whom have been reinstated on the platform so far.
The Associated Press checked at least 12 other suspended accounts on Twitter, including those used by right-wing activist James O’Keefe and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell – and each displayed the message “account suspended” until Friday afternoon.
“I am so glad that Twitter is now in sane hands and will no longer be led by radical left lunatics and maniacs who truly hate our country”, Trump said on Friday morning in a post on his social media platform Truth Social, leaving no indication whether he would return to the platform even though Musk has said he would allow it.
“I WANT THE TRUTH!”, he said, adding that Twitter will be “better” if it can rid itself of the bots and fake accounts “that have hurt it so badly.”
Earlier in the day, media reports indicated that Kanye West, legally known as Ye, appeared to have returned to Twitter after his account was closed earlier this month following his anti-Semitic posts on the social media platform.
But there was no evidence to suggest that his account status had changed or that Mr. Musk played a role, and there was no sign of recent activity. Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment whether Ye had returned to the platform. The rapper and fashion designer had also been suspended from Instagram, where his account recently reappeared.
Meanwhile, dozens of extremist profiles – some newly created – posted racist slurs and Nazi images, while expressing gratitude to Musk for his new leadership. Another anonymous account wrote on Twitter: “Elon now controls Twitter, unleashes racist slurs”, along with some disparaging remarks.
“His purchase of Twitter has opened Pandora’s box,” said the group Ultraviolet in a prepared statement on Friday, also urging Musk, Twitter executives, and the company’s board to continue enforcing the ban on Trump from the platform, as well as right-wing extremists and white supremacists.
Some users reacted to the news by threatening to leave, while others were playing into it. The terms “Elon” and “Purge” topped the trend on Twitter on Friday as users discussed the repercussions. Speculations also swirled around the platform. Some worried that their Twitter followers were dropping, theorizing that Twitter may be purging bot accounts. Others posted unverified reports that their “likes” were dwindling.
“Elon Musk bought a platform, he didn’t buy people,” said Jennifer Grygiel, a social media expert and professor at Syracuse University.”
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