Elon Musk calls Donald Trump's Twitter ban 'morally wrong', says he would reverse it

"Wrong and bad" tweets should be deleted or made invisible and a temporary account suspension could be appropriate, Musk was quoted as saying by Reuters.

New Delhi: Tesla Chief Elon Musk on Tuesday (May 10, 2022) termed former US President Donald Trump's Twitter ban as "morally wrong" and said he would reverse the decision when he buys the social media platform. 

In what is seen as the clearest signal yet of Musk's intention to cut moderation of the micro-blogging site, the billionaire added that he and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey believe permanent bans should be "extremely rare" and reserved for accounts that operate bots or spread spam, Reuters reported.

"Wrong and bad" tweets should be deleted or made invisible and a temporary account suspension could be appropriate, the world's richest person said. 

"I think permabans just fundamentally undermine trust in Twitter as a town square where everyone can voice their opinion," Reuters quoted Musk as saying.

He said the decision to ban Trump amplified Trump`s views among people on the political right, and he called the ban "morally wrong and flat-out stupid."

Musk, notably, has inked a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter Inc and is expected to become its temporary CEO after closing the deal, Reuters previously reported, citing a source familiar with the matter.

Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter shortly after January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol. Twitter cited "the risk of further incitement of violence" in its decision.

The suspension of Trump’s account, which had more than 88 million followers, silenced his primary megaphone days before the end of his term and followed years of debate about how social media companies should moderate the accounts of powerful global leaders. 

Trump, however, had recently said that he would not return to Twitter if allowed. His own social media app, Truth Social, launched on the Apple app store in late February. Trump has revved up his messaging on the new platform after a slow start, posting about 50 times, mostly in the last week, to his 2.7 million followers. He reportedly averaged 18 tweets a day when he was president.

The question of reinstating Trump has been seen as a litmus test of how far the Tesla CEO will go in making changes.

(With agency inputs)