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Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Elon Musk will decide reactivating Trump account: Twitter CEO Parag

Parag Agrawal, Twitter CEO, announced that the decision to unban Mr Trump would be Mr Musk’s responsibility after the buyout deal is finalised.

• April 26, 2022
Elon Musk and Donald Trump
Elon Musk and Donald Trump

Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter has heightened speculations that the microblogging platform may reactivate former U.S. President Donald Trump’s account.

Parag Agrawal, Twitter CEO, announced that the decision to unban Mr Trump would be Mr Musk’s responsibility after the buyout deal is finalised within the next six months.

“Also regarding Donald Trump’s account possibly being reinstated, @paraga said that was a question for Elon to answer once the deal closes,” tweeted Kurt Wagner, Bloomberg’s business reporter, on Monday evening.

Mr Trump’s Twitter account, with over 88 million followers, was deactivated for posting violence-inciting tweets in the aftermath of last year’s January 6 riot at the capitol. His action violated Twitter’s guidelines. 

The company defended the ban saying it was necessary to avoid “the risk of further incitement of violence.”

However, the sale of the microblogging platform has opened up new discussions around the reactivation of Mr Trump’s permanently-suspended account. 

Unbothered by the new chance of getting back to his 88 million followers, Mr Trump said he had no intention of rejoining Twitter in a recent CNBC interview. 

Expressing his disappointment over the supposed ill-treatment meted to him by Twitter, Mr Trump stated, “No, I won’t be going back on Twitter. I will be on Truth Social within the week. It’s on schedule.” 

“We have a lot of people signed up. I like Elon Musk. I like him a lot. He’s an excellent individual. We did a lot for Twitter when I was in the White House,” he had said. “I was disappointed by the way I was treated by Twitter. I won’t be going back on Twitter.”

Twitter’s acquisition by Mr Musk, who believes in easing the company’s tweet policies, already poses a threat to Mr Trump’s startup (focusing on the freedom to express one’s political ideologies without fear of ban or discrimination).

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