SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – New Twitter owner Elon Musk says he is granting “amnesty” for suspended accounts, which online safety experts predict will spur a rise in harassment, hate speech and misinformation.
The billionaire’s announcement Thursday came after he asked in a poll posted to his timeline to vote on reinstatements for accounts that have not “broken the law or engaged in egregious spam.” The yes vote was 72%.
After a similar highly unscientific poll last weekend, Musk reinstated the account of former President Donald Trump, which Twitter had banned for encouraging the January 6, 2021, Capitol riots.
Trump has said he won’t return to Twitter but has not deleted his account.
(Copyright 2022, The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)