Why Is Elon Musk Letting Previously Banned Users And Celebrities Back On Twitter?

Seemingly every hour brings fresh turmoil over at Twitter, and the latest controversy has to do with new owner Elon Musk releasing a series of high-profile users from tweet jail.

These contentious individuals were put there for various reasons — one posted anti-Jewish conspiracy theories, one allegedly incited an insurrection at the United States Capitol and one violated Twitter's "hateful conduct" rules — so why is Musk allowing once-banned users such as Donald Trump back to the public square? Let's explain.

Who Has Elon Invited Back?

Elon Musk brought back Jordan Peterson, who was suspended on June 22nd, 2022 after deadnaming actor Elliott Page. Peterson immediately posted an appreciative tweet for Musk, going so far as to slide into his replies and compliment a meme posted by the "Chief Twit."

Elon also brought back Kanye West, who was suspended following the infamous "Deathcon 3" tweet about a Jewish conspiracy. Kanye posted a tweet testing his reinstated account, to which Elon replied.

Andrew Tate, the hyper-masculine influencer, has also returned. He was banned five years ago, long before he reached considerable viral fame on TikTok and was banned from every other platform for his violent rhetoric about women. He's posted a video of himself smoking a cigar and flying out to meet Elon and thank him.

But all three of these posters are small fish compared to the elephant in the room: Donald J. Trump. Musk conducted a poll to determine whether Trump should be brought back, and based on the votes of various human Twitter users and associated bots, the former President's official account, @realDonaldTrump, is back on the platform.

Who Has Elon Not Invited Back?

Elon Musk has refused to invite back Alex Jones, the conspiracy influencer who was recently convicted of defamation for spreading lies about the parents of children killed at the Sandy Hook mass shooting in 2012. Musk's reasoning for this was seen by others as emotionally-driven: he empathized with the parents of the children killed in the shooting because he lost one of his own children once, and believed that Jones' spreading of lies was unacceptable.

Many posters criticized Musk for this, arguing it was proof that he is less committed to the principle of free speech than to his own preferences and feelings.

Will Trump Post Now That He's Back?

It remains an open question. Trump has said that he won't post, but Twitter does offer a tantalizing opportunity to the former President and current 2024 candidate: he has millions of followers, and the platform is deeply plugged into the mainstream press. A tweet from Trump would get much more coverage than any Truth he might post on his own new platform, Truth Social.

But Trump faces a difficult choice. He's invested a lot of his own money and brand into Truth Social, and if the business goes down it will not only cost him a lot of money, but reflect badly on him. If Trump leaves Truth Social and posts his content on Twitter instead, then the major driver of Truth Social's traffic will turn away from the platform. Most think it's unlikely that Truth Social, a similar platform to Twitter created for Trump after his ban, could survive without Trump.

That said, many, including Elon Musk himself, seem to want the former President back on Twitter. The new owner posted a horny meme (seen above) about the 45th President and his dilemma, which received hundreds of thousands of likes. The me trying to live a normal productive life meme is one that Musk has deployed before, when promoting cryptocurrency back in 2020.

Some speculated that part of why Musk might want Trump back is for the amount of engagement the former President would generate on the platform, comparing it to past Truths by Trump that stated Musk had asked him for handouts.

Will There Be Any Repercussions For Elon Musk Regarding These Unbans?

Elon Musk can do anything he wants with Twitter as the owner of the company. To some extent, however, he is accountable to the sources of the $44 billion he spent buying it: Tesla shareholders, who watched him turn his stock in that company into collateral to buy Twitter, the Saudi royal family who joined him in the purchase and various banks who helped it go through.

He is also, ultimately, accountable to the United States government: Twitter has been under a consent decree since 2011 with the FTC over how it handles user data. This means that Twitter is being watched closer than other companies, and can be fined if it breaks the rules of the decree.

Originally, Musk had pledged to only do account reinstatements through a Content Moderation council, but it so far, it appears these reinstatements are being done unilaterally without any mention of a council.

Why Is He Doing This?

Ultimately, it is impossible to access Elon Musk's mind. But there has been a lot of discussion about reinstating these Twitter users amongst his followers and fans. And undoubtedly, these account reinstatements have changed the media narrative about Twitter: now, people are talking about Donald Trump and not about the thousands of employees that have quit or been fired since Musk took charge.

Others argue that Musk may have more ambitious aims, seeking to use Twitter as a form of social engineering, or a way to strike back at the "woke" establishment.

At the end of the day, it may not even matter: things happen, and the posts roll on.