A Twitter account with the handle @hoot_little made a threatening tweet towards Matt Walsh, Chaya Raichik, Tim Pool and Jamie Michell Thursday. The tweet suggested that the commentators should “fear for their lives.” The individuals mentioned are commentators and creators of conservative outlets against child pedophilia and indoctrination of gender ideology. In response to the tweet, Elon Musk suspended the account.
Libs of TikTok posted a screenshot of a post retweet asking Musk whether it is still against Twitter’s terms of service policies. Musk responded in the affirmative. However, the new CEO is now dealing with a sensitive issue that borders on free speech and harassment.
Thank you, @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/MHtcJHhYVA
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) November 23, 2022
Since Musk’s big takeover, he has reinstated previously banned accounts with the highest profile, such as former President Donald Trump. The reinstatement occurred after Musk posted a poll on the platform in which a majority voted “yes” to restoring the former president’s account. Earlier this year, Musk criticized the original ban on Trump and said that once he owned Twitter, he would undo it.
Although he believes permanent Twitter bans should be reserved for targeting spam and scam accounts, Musk often turns to surveys and polls to get a majority vote. After the recent harassing tweet on Wednesday, he posted a poll asking whether Twitter should grant amnesty to suspended accounts. In his poll, Musk asks, “Should Twitter offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam?”
There were 3 million respondents in the poll, and 72% voted yes. The poll closed around 12:45 pm EST on Thursday, with Musk announcing that amnesty will begin next week. Any accounts of users who have been banned for violent threats, harassment, abuse and misinformation will be included in the amnesty policy.
