Twitter has spoken and Elon Musk has announced that he will give people what they want. After a landslide of Twitter users voted yes to Musk’s question regarding the reinstatement of suspended accounts, the billionaire has announced “amnesty” for the users in question.
Of the 3.16 million respondents to an informal Twitter poll by the new chief twit, about 72.4 per cent said that the social media platform should let back in users whose accounts were suspended as long as no laws were broken or “egregious spam” wasn’t committed.
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Taking to Twitter, Musk wrote “Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” a Latin phrase that means “The voice of the people is the voice of God”. He has announced that the amnesty for the suspended accounts begins next week.
The people have spoken.
Amnesty begins next week.
Vox Populi, Vox Dei.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 24, 2022
As per the AFP report, Twitter has a monthly active user base of 450 million, many of which “might never have seen the poll question”. Additionally, the poll was open to all and could’ve potentially been a target of fake accounts and bots.
The “yes/no” poll comes on the heels of the reinstatement of the Twitter account of former US President Donald Trump. This decision too was based on a similar poll in which the users voted for letting Trump back on the platform. If he will actually join Twitter once again remains to be seen.
On Thursday, Twitter’s new owner Musk posted the poll asking his 118 million followers and the public “Should Twitter offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam?”.
Should Twitter offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 23, 2022
This comes as Musk as per AFP faces pushback for his content moderation criteria, with people accusing him of basing such decisions on his personal “whims”.
Musk’s blanket “amnesty” poll can go a long way to alarm authorities and advertisers, who have been wary of the Tesla CEO’s handling of hateful speech since his $44 million takeover a few weeks back.
(With inputs from agencies)
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