BREAKING: Donald Trump, #Putin, Others Back On #Twitter As Elon Musk Takes Over?—-Following Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter overnight, many are expecting a series of changes at the social media website.
Perhaps one of the most notable is expected to be the company’s stance on free speech, with claims that the billionaire is planning to get rid of lifetime bans on users.
This could pave the way for a series of controversial figures to return to the website, after years of a clamp down on curbing hate speech and stopping posts inciting violence.
Here are some of the best-known people who could stage a return to Twitter if Musk chooses to reverse bans on their accounts.
Donald Trump
The most high profile person to have been permanently banned from Twitter is former US president Donald Trump, whose account was taken down in early 2021 in the wake of the attacks in the Capitol.
Explaining the decision at the time, Twitter said it had closely reviewed posts by Mr Trump – who had been a prolific user of the website – and had found there was a “risk of further incitement of violence” if he continued to have an account.
The former US president has since launched his own social media website to rival Twitter called Truth Social.
Roger Stone
Donald Trump’s former campaign adviser Roger Stone attempted a return to Twitter earlier this year, after having been banned in 2017 for attacking journalists using the social media website.
In April this year, he said he was back on Twitter with a separate account and was “anxious to see how strong Elon Musk’s commitment to free speech is”.
Hours later, that account was also taken down.
Kanye West
Earlier this month, rapper Kanye West was locked from using his Twitter account after posting a series of anti-Semitic tweets, which the social media website said violated its policies.
Mr West, who has also recently been dropped from partnerships with Adidas, Gap and Balenciaga over his comments, had shared a post in which he said he was going to go “death con 3” on Jewish people and said that he could not be “Anti Semitic because black people are actually Jew”.
He is not yet permanently banned, despite calls from some users, but could come back following the change of control.
Alex Jones
US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones is expected to be among those who could have his Twitter account reinstated after the takeover by Elon Musk completed, after having been banned four years ago.
Twitter said a number of his tweets had violated its abusive behaviour policy, although did not say which ones in particular.
Mr Jones is known as the founder of conspiracy website Infowars, and earlier this month was ordered to pay $965m (£869m) in damages for falsely claiming the Sandy Hook school shooting in the US was a hoax.
Milo Yiannopoulos
Journalist Milo Yiannopoulos was permanently blocked from Twitter in the wake of a torrent of abuse towards Ghostbusters actor Leslie Jones.
Mr Yiannopoulos was accused of feeding the abuse, which resulted in Ms Jones quitting the social media site, after sharing a screenshot of her page when she had blocked him, writing: “rejected by yet another black dude”.
After he was banned, he said of the move by Twitter: “Like all acts of the totalitarian regressive left, this will blow up in their faces, netting me more adoring fans. We’re winning the culture war, and Twitter just shot themselves in the foot.
Vladimir Putin
While Twitter moved earlier this year to limit content from official Russian government figures in the wake of its attacks in Ukraine, the two official accounts of Vladimir Putin remain active on the website.
This is despite criticism that the official Russian government accounts have been spreading misinformation, such as earlier this year claiming reports of bombings in Ukraine were fake.
Elon Musk has been criticised for floating pro-Russian talking points on social media, suggesting Ukraine should open peace talks with Russia and hand over occupied territory to Mr Putin’s country.
Politics for All
Politics for All, the political news aggregator that had amassed nearly half a million followers, was banned in January this year for “artificially amplifying” its audience.
The PFA had been adopted as a source of news by political aficionados on Twitter for tweeting headlines to breaking news stories, before publishing a second tweet linking to the original article.
Katie Hopkins
Right wing commentator Katie Hopkins was permanently banned from Twitter in June 2020 for breaking its rules on hate speech.
Ms Hopkins had previously been suspended numerous times over violating the social media site’s rules, but had her account shut down, following comments to Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford in which she said women should “think about how they are going to feed a child before they decide to have it”.
Steve Bannon
Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon had his account blocked in late 2020, amid a wider crackdown by Twitter on accounts which were inciting violence.
It came after he posted a video suggesting Dr. Anthony Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray should be beheaded, posting a video in which he said: “I’d put the heads on pikes. Right. I’d put them at the two corners of the White House. As a warning to federal bureaucrats.”
David Duke
The former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke had been posting on Twitter for more than a decade before he was banned, and had accumulated more than 50,000 followers at the time.
Mr Duke, the head of the white supremecist group – one of the most notorious hate groups in the US – had made repeated violations of Twitter’s rules on hateful content, the social media site said when it banned him in 2020.
Twitter has not taken such a firm stance on all controversial individuals on its website, though, and has shrugged off repeated calls to remove Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, even after he used the website to call for genocide.
Campaigners renewed their urges for him to be blocked from the website following the news Elon Musk’s takeover had completed.
