Tesla chief Elon Musk on Tuesday said that he would reverse former US President Donald Trump’s Twitter ban.
Musk, while speaking at the Financial Times Future of the Car conference, said that Twitter’s Trump ban was a “morally bad decision” and “foolish in the extreme.” He said permanent bans of Twitter accounts should be rare and reserved for accounts that are scams or automated bots.
“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 said.
“So I think this may end up being frankly worse than having a single forum where everyone can debate. I guess the answer is that I would reverse the permanent ban,” he added.
Musk, who has called himself a "free speech absolutist," recently inked a $44 billion deal to acquire the social media platform.
Meanwhile, Trump told Fox News that he would not return to Twitter even if Musk reinstates his account. He said he would continue using his own social media app called Truth Social, which was launched on the Apple app store in late February.
Trump’s Twitter account was permanently banned in January 2021 for “incitement of violence” following the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
It may be mentioned that Musk’s remarks raise questions about whether those banned besides Trump could also return. The long list of people banned from Twitter includes QAnon loyalists, COVID deniers, neo-Nazis and Kangana Ranaut and former reality star Tila Tequila, who were suspended for hate speech.
Also Read: Will Do Everything Possible to Oust Corrupt BJP In Assam: Abhishek Banerjee
