NEW DELHI: Micro-blogging website Twitter’s largest shareholder and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said that he would restore former US President Donald Trump’s Twitter account, while also calling the ban on him during then CEO Jack’s tenure as “morally wrong” and “flat out stupid”.
“I told Jack Dorsey about this. He and I are of the same mind which is that permanent bans should be extremely rare and really reserved for accounts that are bots and spam accounts. I do think that it was not correct to ban Donald Trump. It alienated a lot part of the country,” Musk told an event.
“I would reverse Trump’s suspension. It was a morally based decision to be clear and foolish” he said.
His comments have further stoked popular sentiments on Musk’s own Twitter timeline that company’s Indian-origin legal head, known by a publicised moniker “chief censor” Vijaya Gadde and who according to some insiders had sought Trump’s ban, may be removed from her position.
To a query if Trump egged on crowd or sparked calls for attack on the US Capitol ahead of Presidential elections last year, Musk said “tweets that are bad should only be made invisible or deleted”, ruling out any permanent suspension of any account in such circumstances.
He called for only temporary suspension or making limited traction for any controversial tweet but ruled out any suspension.
Countless Musk supporters on social media and more than 59% Americans have approved of the takeover according to one Harris Poll, debunking news that some at Twitter are worried that his acquisition will alter the company’s complexion or ideology and its overall direction.
Two weeks ago, Musk had launched a bevy of acerbic barbs at Twitter’s managemet as there were attempts to hole up his offer even as he turned down an opportunity to join the company’s board.
The Tesla Inc chief is also believed to have pulled out partners for this mega acquisition.
Musk has been saying that he would enforce rapid and broad changes on Twitter , making it a level playing field of free speech and has dropped broad hints including allowing audience to edit tweets, while making the algorithm open source and stamping out anonymous bots.