Oct 28 (Reuters) – Mere hours after Elon Musk kicked off a new era at Twitter Inc, the billionaire owner was deluged with pleas and demands from banned account holders and world leaders.
The flood of requests underscore the challenge the CEO of electric car maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) faces, balancing a promise to restore free speech while preventing the platform from descending into a “hellscape,” as he had vowed in an open letter to advertisers on Thursday.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump, who was permanently banned from Twitter over accusations of inciting violence after the Jan. 6, 2021 capitol riots, welcomed the takeover, but said little about a return to Twitter. “I am very happy that Twitter is now in sane hands, and will no longer be run by Radical Left Lunatics and Maniacs who truly hate our country.” read more
Dmitry Medvedev, former Russia president and current deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council, tweeted his congratulations: “Good luck @elonmusk in overcoming political bias and ideological dictatorship on Twitter. And quit that Starlink in Ukraine business.”
Others asked Musk to reverse penalties inflicted by the social media platform. In response to @catturd2, an anonymous account with 852,000 followers, known for being a big supporter of Trump’s election fraud claims, and who said it was “shadowbanned,” Musk tweeted “I will be digging in more today.”
The editor-in-chief of Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT, Margarita Simonyan, asked Musk to “unban RT and Sputnik accounts and take the shadow ban off mine as well?”
The pressure is mounting on Musk and Twitter as he is set to address the Twitter staff on Friday after closing the deal.
“Hey @ElonMusk, now that you own Twitter, will you help fight back against Trudeau’s online censorship bill C-11?” tweeted Canada Proud, an organization working to vote out Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“First I’ve heard,” Musk responded in a tweet on Friday.
DAY ONE
Several employees who spoke with Reuters on Friday said there had been no communication from management about what happens next.
Musk was expected to address employees on Friday, but the employees said they had not received any notice by the late afternoon.
Two sources familiar with the matter said Musk’s teams were investigating Twitter’s code and asking questions about how aspects of the platform work.
Musk appeared to have joined the company’s Slack channel by Friday, according to a screenshot seen by Reuters.
Musk also tweeted on Friday that Twitter will form a “content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints,” and that no major decisions on moderation or account reinstatements will be made before it convenes.
Despite an appeal to advertisers on Thursday that he hoped to make Twitter “the most respected advertising platform in the world,” at least one major automaker – GM (GM.N) – said it temporarily paused its advertising and was working to “understand the direction of the platform under their new ownership.”
Read More: Elon Musk manages free speech versus ‘hellscape’ at Twitter