Elon Musk tries to explain why he allowed Donald Trump and others back on Twitter, even after promising the decision would be left to a content moderation board made up of people with “widely differing views.” And wow, his explanation is definitely something; in a Twitter on Tuesday nighthe claimed the council was part of a deal he made with an unnamed “grand coalition of political/social activist groups”, suggesting it was their fault.
Musk claims he made a deal to stop those groups from trying to destroy Twitter’s ad revenue, and that those groups “broke the deal,” so he no longer has to maintain all that stuff about the council .
Earlier this month, Musk banned Jordan Peterson, Kathy Griffin and The Babylonian Bee, before conducting a poll asking his followers if they would like to see Donald Trump back on the platform, tweeting “Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” which translates to “the voice of the people is the voice of god.” The next day, without any mention of the council, he announced that Trump would be backed down based on the poll results (although the former president and current presidential candidate has not yet returned to tweeting).
Here’s another poll: Do you believe Musk’s explanation?
It is not the first time Musk has pointed his finger at “activists”. Earlier this month, he tweeted that activist groups are “pressuring advertisers” in an effort to “destroy free speech in America.” In the meantime, The edge has seen documents from one of the three major advertising companies advising clients to stop running campaigns on the platform. Omnicom Media Group and others cited no pressure from political or social activists; instead, they said Twitter poses a risk to brands because of concerns about compliance, impersonation, a lack of moderation and how the massive layoffs will affect the company’s ability to operate.
