Elon Musk kept his word.
The new owner and boss of Twitter (TWTR) had indicated that he would reinstate Donald Trump once he took control of the social network, the town square of our time.
It was done on the evening of November 19, despite significant criticism coming mainly from civil rights groups and Democrats, who fear that the former Republican president, who has already announced his candidacy for the presidential election of 2024, will spread new lies and misinformation on the social network.
"For @elonmusk to allow Donald Trump back on Twitter, ostensibly after a brief poll, shows he is not remotely serious about safeguarding the platform from hate, harassment and misinformation," blasted Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of ADL (Anti-Defamation League.)
"Hey stop defaming me!" Musk responded.
Trump Snubs Musk
But 24 hours after his account was reactivated, Trump, who was a very active Twitter user before his suspension, still hasn't posted a single message. And it is not certain that he will return to the platform. In any case, this is what he has just indicated to various groups.
"I hear we're getting a big vote to also go back on Twitter. I don't see it because I don't see any reason for it," the real estate magnate told a panel at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership meeting, Bloomberg News reported.
"It may make it, it may not make it," he added, saying he would stick with Truth Social, his own platform. He said that Truth Social had better user engagement than Twitter and was doing "phenomenally well”.
"Truth Social has been very, very powerful, very, very strong, and I'll be staying there," Trump told the audience by video.
But Musk seems determined to push the former president to become active on Twitter again. He decided to try to provoke a reaction, betting on the fact that the former president likes to have the last word.
'Temptation'
The billionaire has therefore used the image of a priest who resorts to prayer to resist the temptation represented by a naked woman. The woman is Twitter and the priest is Trump, says Musk. The billionaire posted the following message along with the image: "And lead us not into temptation …"
This very suggestive and provocative post had already received nearly 200,000 likes, less than an hour after it was published on the platform. Reactions from Twitter users reflected their surprise that the former president still hadn't tweeted in 24 hours.
"86.6 million people waiting all day for a single tweet..." posted bitcoin billionaire Michael Saylor, referring to the number of followers Trump had when he was banned on the platform on January 8.
"Elon, just pick up the phone and call him already," suggested another Twitter user.
"Trump forgot the password to his twitter account 🤣," quipped one user.
The decision to reinstate Trump was made following a poll organized by Musk on the platform as he often does with important choices he must make. At the end of the vote, nearly 52% of a more than 15 million voters approved Trump's return to Twitter while 48% opposed it.
Musk had indicated that he would follow the result of the vote.
After the events of January 6, 2021 on Capitol Hill, Twitter, like other social media platforms, completely reviewed their practices and took more strict positions on what types of posts or tweets were now acceptable. In doing so, the social network permanently banned many accounts, including that of former President Donald Trump and members of the racist and extremist movement QAnon.
"After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them--specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter--we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence," Twitter said on January 8, 2021.
Trump's return to Twitter poses financial risks for Musk as many advertisers, like General Motors (GM), Pfizer (PFE), Audi, General Mills (GIS), Stellantis (STLA), suspended their ads in anticipation of what direction the billionaire would take with content management.
