Twitter to form ‘Content Moderation Board’ to consider unblocking Elon Musk accounts, tweets

Elon Musk tweeted that Twitter would create a “Content Moderation Council” made up of people with “widely differing perspectives.” One of the key functions of this board will be to consider unblocking the accounts of people who have been permanently suspended. No major decisions about moderating content or restoring suspended accounts will be made without that advice, according to Musk’s tweet. This suggests that the rumored unblocking of controversial users, including potentially former US President Donald Trump, will not happen overnight and may not happen at all. Musk has previously indicated that he considers account bans inconsistent with a commitment to free speech, and he envisions Twitter as a digital “public square.”

Elon Musk took ownership of Twitter with brutal efficiency on Thursday. Soon after the deal was signed, he fired top executives, including Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and head of legal affairs and policy Vijaya Gade, according to people familiar with the matter. He had accused them of misleading him and Twitter investors about the number of fake accounts on the platform.

“The bird has been released,” he tweeted shortly after completing his acquisition on Thursday, referring to Twitter’s bird logo in an apparent nod to his desire to see the company have fewer restrictions on the content that can be posted.

However, the CEO of electric car maker Tesla and a self-described free speech absolutist also said he wanted to prevent the platform from becoming an echo chamber for hatred and division.

Other goals include a desire to “beat” spambots on Twitter and make publicly available the algorithms that determine how content is presented to users.

Still, Musk hasn’t provided details on how he’ll accomplish all of this and who will run the company.

© Thomson Reuters 2022