Donald Trump is back on Twitter
Shortly after the 24-hour Twitter poll on Musk’s account ended, Donald Trump's Twitter account was reinstated.
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Donald Trump's account following reinstatement
Donald Trump's Twitter account was restored Saturday after Elon Musk, the platform's new owner, conducted a poll in which a small majority of respondents supported the move, just days after the former US president announced another White House candidacy.
Trump's account was blocked from the network in early 2021 for his role in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by a mob of his supporters wanting to reverse the 2020 election results.
"The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated," Musk tweeted, shortly after the 24-hour Twitter poll on his account ended.
"Vox Populi, Vox Dei," he wrote, repeating a Latin aphorism he also shared on Friday, which translates as "The voice of the people is the voice of God."
The people have spoken.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 20, 2022
Trump will be reinstated.
Vox Populi, Vox Dei. https://t.co/jmkhFuyfkv
More than 15 million people voted on whether to reinstall the controversial profile, out of 237 million daily Twitter users, with 51.8 percent in favor and 48.2 percent opposed.
Reinstate former President Trump
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 19, 2022
Trump, who had over 88 million followers on Twitter when his account was disabled, thrived in using it as a voice during his presidency, tweeting policy announcements, criticizing political rivals, and engaging with supporters.
The former president has stated that he will not return to the popular platform, but will instead focus on his own network, Truth Social, which he founded after being banned from Twitter.
On Saturday, several of his political allies were celebrating his return.
"Welcome back, @realdonaldtrump!" tweeted House Republican Paul Gosar.
The Twitter CEO tweeted that Twitter aims to promote freedom of speech and will even permit hate speech to be posted on the social media platform. But the latter will be hard to "reach", according to the tech mogul, adding that certain mechanisms will be manoeuvered to demote the posts.
Musk also said that the personal accounts of Kathie Griffin, Jordan Peterson, and Babylon Bee have been reinstated, before reinstating Trump's
Musk agreed to buy Twitter for $44 billion on October 28 after months of negotiations and legal battles with the company over the number of fake accounts on the social media platform, which the entrepreneur believed was much higher than the company reported.
Following the purchase, the billionaire began mass layoffs to optimize expenses and change management.
On October 30, Musk announced that Twitter will potentially be split into various strands where users will be able to rate posts and stage online rows in a distinct created space on the platform, adding that Twitter would form a "content moderation council" with diverse viewpoints to help govern the platform’s policies.
