Over 11 million people vote on whether or not Donald Trump should be allowed back on Twitter

vt-author-image

By stefan armitage

Article saved!Article saved!

Elon Musk is asking people on Twitter whether or not they believe Donald Trump should have his account reactivated.

On Friday, the new Twitter boss revealed that several formally suspended Twitter accounts had once again been reinstated.

In a tweet referencing the company's decision, the 51-year-old billionaire tweeted: "New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach.

"Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted and demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter. You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out, which is no different from rest of Internet."

Musk added in a subsequent tweet: "Note, this applies just to the individual tweet, not the whole account."

The Tesla CEO then personally informed users that the accounts of Jordan Peterson, Kathy Griffin, and Babylon Bee had been reinstated. Another controversial individual to have their account once again live is Andrew Tate.

Peterson was suspended from the platform back in the summer for remarks he made against actor Elliot Page. Comedian Griffin was suspended earlier this month for impersonating Musk on the platform. And conservative Christian news satire website Babylon Bee was suspended back in March for comments regarding trans government official Rachel Levine.

However, when it comes to former POTUS Donald Trump, Musk said the "decision has not yet been made".

size-large wp-image-1263178375
Credit: David Branson / Alamy

Trump was infamously booted from the platform following the January 6 Capitol riots.

Twitter made the decision to permanently ban Trump from the platform "due to the risk of further incitement of violence". Referring specifically to the "@realDonaldTrump account" in a statement posted to Twitter's blog site, the company said:

"After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence. 

"In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action."

wp-image-1263152730 size-full
Credit: Twitter

In February, Trump would go on to launch his own social media platform, Truth Social, following the ban.

But Musk wants to hear the opinion of the people, and therefore set up a Twitter poll asking the simple question: "Reinstate former President Trump" - with the two answer options being "Yes" or "No".

As of this writing, 11,157,034 votes have been registered - with 52.3% of people saying "Yes" and 47.7% of voters saying "No".

And the poll is clearly grabbing Musk's attention, as he responded then responded to the votes, tweeting: "Vox Populi, Vox Dei" - a Latin phrase meaning "the voice of the people is the voice of God".

Musk went on to tweet: "Fascinating to watch Twitter Trump poll!"

However, the former POTUS has already stated publically that he would not return to Twitter even if his account is reinstated, and will instead use his platform on Truth Social.

So, I guess only time will tell when it comes to a Trump return on Twitter.

Featured image credit: The Photo Access / Alamy