Elon Musk announces the restoration of suspended accounts

TWITTER – The new head of Twitter Elon Musk announced this Thursday, November 24 that he will restore suspended accounts on the platform next week if they have not broken the law, thus returning to reassure comments during his takeover.

When asked, posted Wednesday in the form of a poll on his account, whether Twitter should offer a “General amnesty for suspended accounts provided they have not broken the law or sent outrageous spam”said 72.4% of the approximately 3.16 million people «oui».

“The people have spoken, the amnesty starts next week”Elon Musk tweeted this Thursday, a public holiday in the United States for the Thanksgiving holiday, accompanying his publication of the message “Voice of the people, voice of God” (“The voice of the people is the voice of God”).

It is with this same expression that he had, on Saturday, rehabilitated the account of former US president Donald Trump, banned from the social network after the assault on the Capitol in Washington in January 2021.

The Tesla and SpaceX leader had made this decision following a similar consultation on the blue bird network, a method of uncertain representativeness. A narrow majority (51.8%) of the 15 million voters had expressed themselves in favor of a return of the Republican billionaire, who has not tweeted since the restoration of his account.

Elon Musk has repeatedly explained that he bought Twitter because he considers the platform to be “digital public space” essential for democracy in the world.

The richest man in the world considers content moderation too restrictive, but his absolutist vision of freedom of expression raises fears of a wave of abuse (disinformation, hate speech) on the social network.

Many brands have already suspended ad spend on Twitter, which is 90% dependent on it for revenue.

Limit

The libertarian entrepreneur first tried to appease them, recalling at the end of October that the rules had not (yet) changed and promising not to take any decision on the consolidation of the accounts before the creation of a “Content Moderation Advice”.

But advertisers who had promised to keep their spending on the condition that this moderation board is created “broke the deal”he wrote on Tuesday in justification of returning accounts kicked off the platform.

Several major brands, including Volkswagen, General Motors and General Mills, have announced that they will suspend ad spending on Twitter since its acquisition by Musk.

Elon Musk, however, seems to have a limit: he has indicated that he will not restore the account of the American far-right conspirator Alex Jones, who has been sued for several years by the parents of the victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting in Newton. Connecticut) for claiming that the massacre was just a show put on by gun opponents.

Having lived through the death of her first child, she explained that she is “mercilessly to anyone who uses the death of children for (gaining) financial, political or reputational gain”.

Regulators

Elon Musk is widely criticized for his impulsive decisions at the helm of Twitter, from mass layoffs to the chaotic rollout of new features.

He fends off criticism several times a day on his 118 million subscribed account with memes (parodic images), emoticons, taunts, personal attacks and pirouettes.

But the billionaire risks being overtaken by the regulators.

Indeed, Twitter must comply with European laws, including that on Digital Services (DSA) which should oblige platforms to quickly remove illegal content and fight disinformation.

Arcom, the French media policeman, reminded the California group of his on Monday “obligations” and I asked about him ” to confirm “ by this Thursday be ” to be able “ deal with it and “to inform him of the short-term development of human and technological resources” who are dedicated to it.

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