Based on a survey of users, the new Twitter owner has decided that after Donald Trump and Kanye West, tens of thousands of other exiles will also be allowed to return. Experts fear a radicalization of the platform.

The Twitter profile of Elon Musk, owner of the microblogging platform since October 27.
Elon Musk describes himself as «Absolutists of Free Speech». Consequently, he will now be a large part of the unlock banned twitter accounts. According to the new owner of the short message service, the “general amnesty” should come into force this week. More than three million users took part in a survey he launched with his account; 72 percent were in favor of reactivating blocked users, provided they had not violated the law or spread spam messages. “The people have spoken,” Musk tweeted, and “vox populi, vox Dei” (“The voice of the people is the voice of God”).
Should Twitter offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 23, 2022
The survey is not representative
Such votes are hardly representative. Many votes may have been cast from automated accounts. The move also contradicts an earlier announcement by Musk. In late October, shortly after buying Twitter for $44 billion, he said a council would be formed to deal with controversial content. Whether there is now such a council is not clear. The Tesla founder also had at the time written, Twitter should not become a hellscape where anyone can say anything without fear of consequences.
On November 18, Musk unlocked the account of former President Donald Trump, which had been blocked along with 70,000 other accounts after the Capitol storm on January 6, 2021, also after a user survey. However, Trump signaled that he wanted to remain on his own platform Truth Social for the time being.
Overzealous censors
Musk has had a total of eleven accounts reactivated so far. These include the account of rapper Kanye West, who was suspended for anti-Semitic content, the conservative Christian satirical website Babylon Bee and the right-wing investigative platform Project Veritas, the private account of Republican Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was suspended for corona disinformation and violent, extremist rhetoric, and psychologist Jordan Peterson’s account. He had been banned from Twitter for refusing to address a trans person in the way they wished (so-called “misgendering”).
Such bans have caused headshakes far into the political center, as has the blocking of a New York Post article about Joe Biden’s son Hunter in 2020. However, Musk tweeted that conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ account would remain banned. Jones has recently been fined around $1 billion for his denial of the Sandy Hooks Primary School massacre in Newton, in which 29 people were shot dead ten years ago.
Compliance with the law is difficult to check
According to experts, it will be difficult to determine whether a user has broken a law with his messages, also because the legal situation in the USA is different in every state. That would require extensive research. At the same time, Musk has fired hundreds of employees from the very teams that deal with such issues. Deciding whether a message is spam or not isn’t always easy either. The announcement probably amounts to a general amnesty.
Many experts are concerned about the announcement. Alejandra Caraballo of Harvard Law School said the «Washington Post»: “What Musk is doing is existentially dangerous, especially for numerous marginalized groups. It’s a free pass for harassment, threats, intimidation, incitement to violence, and doxing (the malicious release of personal information such as an address or phone number).
She also points out the dangers for activists or journalists in authoritarian states. “You are now at the mercy of the aggressive trolls, with no way to fight back.” Their conclusion: “Apple and Google should seriously consider removing Twitter from the App Store.”
Ugly taste after the Colorado Springs massacre
A foretaste of the uncontrolled spread of rumors came with the Colorado Springs massacre, where a man at LGBT bar Q recently killed 5 people and injured 19. james lindsey, a far-right activist and notorious for his anti-gay hate speech was banned from Twitter in August. Only 24 hours after the massacre, his account was activated again and he was able to tweet, together with the YouTuber Tim Pool, that minors were being seduced in the club, that gays were pedophiles anyway and that such acts of violence could be considered a form of child protection.
Shortly after buying Twitter, Musk caused irritation when, after the attack on Paul Pelosi, Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, he shared a hoax about the incident and ambiguously commented that there may be more to the case than is known. The linked article said that Paul Pelosi was drunk at the time of the attack and that the perpetrator was a call boy.
Numerous advertisers have turned away from Twitter in recent weeks, probably mainly out of fear that Twitter will develop into a playground for right-wing extremists and conspiracy theorists, analogous to platforms like Gab or Parler, which would pose a reputational risk for advertisers. However, it would be ironic for Musk if he paid $44 billion to rescue and open up a platform that ended up being a niche product for ideological fanatics.