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.

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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.