OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Billionaire Elon Musk is continuing to settle into his new role as CEO of Twitter.
On Friday, the platform boss announced that he had reversed bans on the platform of voices on the left and the right.
But he has yet to make a decision regarding whether to lift former President Donald Trump’s lifetime ban.
“New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach. Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter. You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out, which is no different from rest of Internet,” he tweeted before adding: “Kathie Griffin, Jorden Peterson & Babylon Bee have been reinstated. Trump decision has not yet been made.”
To ‘decide’ on Trump, however, Musk posted a poll seeking opinions from Twitter users about whether Trump’s ban should be lifted, which did not go over well with many users.
Reinstate former President Trump
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 19, 2022
Musk followed up his poll with this: “Vox Populi, Vox Dei” — Latin for, “The voice of the people is the voice of God.”
As of this writing, those in favor of reinstating Trump were in the majority, 52.4 percent to 47.6 percent.
The survey, however, led Ellis to ask: “Why do you need a poll for this?”
Why do you need a poll for this?
— Jenna Ellis 🍊🦅 (@JennaEllisEsq) November 19, 2022
“Imagine bringing back hateful Kathy Griffin but not a President of the United States. Makes no sense,” the Catturd account tweeted.
This. But not this. Got it. pic.twitter.com/zyUIBZRqzO
— Allen Miller (@BibleAndASong) November 19, 2022
“As a Marine, I am stunned you’d diminish this to a survey,” conservative commentator Jessie Jane Duff responded. “It’s unfathomable our former President and Commander in Chief was removed from Twitter while dictators remain free to spew hate. He took on the very men who want to DESTROY you. Only they applauded when he was removed.”
As a Marine, I am stunned you’d diminish this to a survey.
It’s unfathomable our former President and Commander in Chief was removed from Twitter while dictators remain free to spew hate.
He took on the very men who want to DESTROY you. Only they applauded when he was removed.
— Gunnery Sergeant Jessie Jane Duff (@JessieJaneDuff) November 19, 2022
Griffin’s Twitter account was suspended earlier this month after testing new owner Elon Musk.
It wasn’t clear if the suspension is temporary or permanent, but Griffin was booted off the platform shortly after mocking Elon Musk by impersonating his Twitter account.
Elon Musk had earlier announced that accounts that impersonated celebrities would be suspended or banned unless they’re clearly labeled “parody.”
Previously, we issued a warning before suspension, but now that we are rolling out widespread verification, there will be no warning.
This will be clearly identified as a condition for signing up to Twitter Blue.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 6, 2022
“Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying ‘parody’ will be permanently suspended, Musk wrote.
“Previously, we issued a warning before suspension, but now that we are rolling out widespread verification, there will be no warning,” he continued.
“This will be clearly identified as a condition for signing up to Twitter Blue,” he added.
Conservatives crowed on Twitter about Kathy Griffin’s suspension, which reportedly was “permanent.”
Griffin took to a platform called “Mastodon” to gripe about her account being “locked.”
Here are Kathy Griffin’s last two posts on her Mastodon account, which she created after Elon Musk took control of Twitter: pic.twitter.com/8tFQpXsCCz
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) November 7, 2022
“Elon just locked my Twitter acct. I guess not ALL the content moderators were let go? Lol,” she wrote.
“I am wreaking a little havoc on Twitter right now,” she added. “I’m feeling quite smug.”
In another message, she claimed that Musk was “melting down.”
Musk, in response at one point, joked about Griffin’s suspension, tweeting, “Actually, she was suspended for impersonating a comedian.”
That led her to respond from her deceased mother’s account: “I mean… you stole that joke, you a**hole. People have been posting that joke for hours, you hack. Look, please do a better job running this company. It used to mean something. This is KG btw.”
