Elon Musk plans to create new review process for Trump, other banned Twitter accounts
Twitter owner Elon Musk announced Wednesday that he would not be reinstating the accounts of anyone banned from the platform until the company had a clear process for doing so, which will likely take weeks.
Musk said he had spoken with civil society leaders, and assured them Twitter would "continue to combat hate & harassment & enforce its election integrity policies," The Wall Street Journal reported. "Twitter's content moderation council will include representatives with widely divergent views, which will certainly include the civil rights community and groups who face hate-fueled violence."
The tech mogul, who recently acquired Twitter in a $44 billion deal, has been the architect of a number of controversial decisions within the company. This includes reportedly ordering company-wide layoffs, as well as considering charging for verification.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The most controversial, though, was his pledge to reinstate the accounts of a number of people who had been kicked off the platform. This includes former President Donald Trump, who was banned from Twitter for spreading misinformation following the Jan. 6, 2021 attack at the U.S. Capitol.
Trump is one of a number of notable right-wingers banned from the platform that have seen renewed calls to be reinstated since Musk's takeover. This includes prominent conspiracy theorists such as Mike Lindell and Alex Jones.
Trump himself, though, has said he doesn't intend to return to Twitter, telling Fox News in an interview that he will stay on his self-founded platform, Truth Social.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Justin Klawans has worked as a staff writer at The Week since 2022. He began his career covering local news before joining Newsweek as a breaking news reporter, where he wrote about politics, national and global affairs, business, crime, sports, film, television and other news. Justin has also freelanced for outlets including Collider and United Press International.
-
The most anticipated movies of 2026The Week Recommends If the trailers are anything to go by, film buffs are in for a treat
-
The biggest viral moments of 2025In the Spotlight From the Coldplay concert kiss cam to a celebrity space mission, these are some of the craziest, and most unexpected, things to happen this year
-
Environment breakthroughs of 2025In Depth Progress was made this year on carbon dioxide tracking, food waste upcycling, sodium batteries, microplastic monitoring and green concrete
-
Australia’s teen social media ban takes effectSpeed Read Kids under age 16 are now barred from platforms including YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and Reddit
-
Inside a Black community’s fight against Elon Musk’s supercomputerUnder the radar Pollution from Colossal looms over a small Southern town, potentially exacerbating health concerns
-
X update unveils foreign MAGA boostersSpeed Read The accounts were located in Russia and Nigeria, among other countries
-
Google avoids the worst in antitrust rulingSpeed Read A federal judge rejected the government's request to break up Google
-
Supreme Court allows social media age check lawSpeed Read The court refused to intervene in a decision that affirmed a Mississippi law requiring social media users to verify their ages
-
What's Linda Yaccarino's legacy? And what's next for X?Today's Big Question An 'uncertain future' in the age of TikTok
-
Nvidia hits $4 trillion milestoneSpeed Read The success of the chipmaker has been buoyed by demand for artificial intelligence
-
X CEO Yaccarino quits after two yearsSpeed Read Elon Musk hired Linda Yaccarino to run X in 2023
