by Sharon Rondeau
(Nov. 24, 2022) — At approximately mid-afternoon on Thursday, Twitter CEO Elon Musk displayed the results of a poll he issued Wednesday on the social-media platform showing nearly two-thirds of respondents favoring what he called a “general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam.”
“The people have spoken,” Musk wrote on Thursday. “Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” signifying, “The voice of the people is the voice of God.”
Musk used the same Latin expression after taking a similar poll about restoring 45th President Donald J. Trump’s account, shuttered since January 8, 2021 by former Twitter managers.
As of press time, Trump has not posted on the account.
In response to Musk’s announcement, Substack writer Igor Chudov published a column titled, “Twitter Amnesty — Good Thanksgiving News.”
“Looking forward to having my original Twitter account reinstated!” Chudov wrote.
In his Twitter feed, Musk indicated he is working to improve Twitter’s speed and reduce “hate speech impressions,” for which he congratulated the “Twitter team.”
On November 9, Musk cut Twitter’s workforce by a reported 50%.
Founded in 2006 by four board members of a now-defunct company, Odeo: Jack Dorsey, Noah Glass, Evan Williams and Biz Stone.
Musk bought the company in late October with an apparent determination to allow for greater freedom of speech after an known number of accounts were terminated, often without stating a reason. The acquisition was briefly in jeopardy after Musk said Twitter misrepresented the number of fake, or “bot,” accounts using the platform.
Those included Drs. Peter A. McCullough and Robert W. Malone, who early on issued warnings about the mass-vaccination program rolled out in late 2020 in response to the COVID-19 “pandemic.” Before two months had passed, McCullough was calling for the vaccinations to cease given what he saw was an alarming safety profile.
Surprisingly, hours after Musk made the announcement Thursday, the topic did not trend on the platform.
