Twitter made one thing perfectly clear on Tuesday: Elon Musk will not be forcing it to bring Donald Trump back.
Twitter announced earlier Tuesday that it was appointing Musk to its board of directors after he purchased 9.2% of the social media company's stock, making him its largest shareholder.
"Looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!" Musk said in a tweet following the announcement, a reference to current Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal.
The comment sparked speculation among conservatives that the Tesla CEO might push for Trump's reinstatement since Musk has been critical of Twitter's crackdown on speech on the platform.
Twitter was quick to snuff out any such speculation, telling the Daily Mail, "Twitter is committed to impartiality in the development and enforcement of its policies and rules. Our policy decisions are not determined by the Board or shareholders, and we have no plans to reverse any policy decisions."
The company added: "As always our Board plays an important advisory and feedback role across the entirety of our service. Our day-to-day operations and decisions are made by Twitter management and employees."
Trump himself was paraphrased in an Atlantic article on Monday saying he has come to prefer his press releases to tweets anyhow, since he doesn't face character-count limitations, thus making them more "elegant."
Trump was forced into alternative means of communication just after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol for two tweets that Twitter said it feared risked further violence. Facebook and other social media companies followed suit.
Trump has since started his own alternative to Twitter, Truth Social, but has sent only one message on the platform.
The calls to bring back Trump cam on the Twitter platform itself:
- "Musk joining the Twitter board is the first step in the right direction. Bring back Trump!'" —British broadcaster and former politician Nigel Farage.
- "Now that [Elon Musk] is Twitter’s largest shareholder, it’s time to lift the political censorship. Oh… and BRING BACK TRUMP!' — Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo.
via newsmax