NEW YORK (AP) — Confusion, concern, intrigue, and celebration.
Hours after Elon Musk took control of Twitter, reactions on the platform ranged from triumph to despair.
No immediate policy change was announced by Friday afternoon, but that didn’t stop users from cheering and criticizing Freedom of Speech.
Conservative personalities on the site began repeatedly circulating long-debunked conspiracy theories, including those about COVID-19 and the 2020 election.
Popular right-wing pundits tweet buzzwords like “ivermectin” and “Trump won” to see if they’ll be punished for content that suggested they would have previously been flagged Did. Ivermectin, an inexpensive drug that kills parasites in humans and animals, has been touted as an effective way to treat COVID-19 by some Republican lawmakers and conservative talk show hosts. But health experts disagree, warning that evidence to support the belief that it works is scant.
“Okay @elonmusk, is this on..?” Steve Cortez, a former commentator for conservative television network Newsmax and an adviser to former President Donald Trump, posted a tweet containing a microphone emoji. Posted. “It’s two genders that Trump won the Ivermectin Rox.”
In a letter intended to assuage advertisers’ fears, Mr. Musk vowed Thursday that Twitter would not be a “free hell where you can say anything and get no results.”
But what will happen to social media platforms, and what will be acceptable, is still an open question. Observers are looking at who might stay, who may leave, and who may return from the list of people the platform has banned over the years. Jones, as far as former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, but so far none have returned to the platform.
The Associated Press has checked at least a dozen other Twitter accounts suspended by the platform, including those used by right-wing activist James O’Keeffe and My Pillow CEO Mike Lindell, each as of Friday. In the afternoon, the message “account suspended” was displayed.
At least one person found a way to get the message out.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social Friday morning, Trump said, “Twitter has fallen into the hands of sanity and is run by radical left-wing fanatics and maniacs who truly hate our country.” I am very happy to be gone, as to whether he will return to the platform, even though Musk said he would allow it.
“I love the truth!” he said, adding that Twitter would be “better” if it could get rid of the “horribly hurt” bots and fake accounts.
In a tweet posted Friday afternoon, Musk said Twitter had formed a “content moderation council with broad and diverse perspectives” to “make major content decisions and account updates before the council convened.” There will be no recovery,” he said.
Earlier in the day, the news outlet reportedly took to Twitter after rapper Kanye West, legally known as Ye, was banned from his account earlier this month for anti-Semitic posts on the social media platform. reportedly returned to
However, there was no evidence of a change in the status of his account, no evidence to suggest that Musk played a role, and no indication of any recent activity. asked, but did not immediately reply. The rapper and fashion designer also recently got his Instagram account back after being suspended.
Meanwhile, dozens of extremist profiles, some newly created, circulated racial slurs and Nazi imagery and expressed appreciation for Musk’s new leadership. One such post shared a breaking news update that Musk had taken over the company, tweeting racist slurs and the message “Thank you Elon.” Another anonymous account tweeted, “Elon now controls Twitter and unleashes racial slurs,” along with some derogatory comments.
“His Twitter acquisition has opened a Pandora’s box,” advocacy group Ultraviolet said in a prepared statement on Friday, urging Musk, Twitter executives and the company’s board to continue Trump’s ban and violent rights. urged to force -wing extremists and white supremacists. ”
Some users threatened to quit in response to the news, while others teased them about quitting. Did. Speculation has also permeated the platform. Some worried that Twitter’s follower count was plummeting. Other users have posted unconfirmed reports of a declining number of likes.
“Elon Musk bought a platform, not a person,” said Jennifer Grigiel, a social media expert and professor at Syracuse University. “And we still have choices about how we get news and information and how we communicate.”
Grygiel said further turmoil on Twitter under Musk would lead to a flight to quality, which would be bad as the platform increasingly serves corporate and state-owned media interests. It may not be the case.
And as usual, users were quick to joke around and try to navigate obstacles in a more comical way.
“In honor of Elon who now owns this site, I would like to start a complete mess,” CNN commentator Bakari Sellers wrote in a tweet Friday morning. “Who is better, Popeye or Bojangles, and why?”
