by - Twitter is reviewing its rules on permanently banning users, sources have told the FT.
- Donald Trump would likely not be allowed back on Twitter if changes were made, the sources said.
- Musk, who is trying to buy Twitter, has said he would reverse Trump’s ban if he owned the platform.
Twitter is reviewing its policies on permanent user bans amid Elon Musk’s protracted efforts to buy the social networking platform for $44 billion, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday.
As early as 2022, the tech giant began looking at whether it could replace permanent bans with other content control tools, several people with knowledge of the matter told the FT.
Two of the people told the FT that if Twitter makes changes to its policies, it is unlikely that former President Donald Trump will be allowed to get his account back.
Twitter permanently suspended Trump from the platform in January 2021 “due to the risk of further inciting violence” in the wake of the attempted riot at the US Capitol.
Twitter has looked into situations in the past where it believes the company has been too harsh in blocking people from their accounts for minor offences, for example users sharing misleading information on the site, the sources told the FT.
Musk, who originally offered to buy Twitter in April, said during an interview with the FT in May that he would “reverse permaban” if he owned the social network. The billionaire also described Twitter’s decision to ban Trump “a morally bad decision” and “stupid,” saying it will reinstate the former president’s account.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO tried to back out of the deal in July and was due to face Twitter in court on October 17, but last week told the tech company he was willing to pay $54.20 per share, the original agreed price.
A spokesperson for the company told Insider that it is “always reviewing the rules that govern our service and the tools and features that can encourage healthy discussion.”
“As part of this work, over the past several years, we have significantly expanded ours range of enforcement options and Product characteristics be more responsive and commensurate with the potential for harm’.
Twitter says so Website that a permanent suspension is its “strongest enforcement action” and the company takes action when a user breaks the rules in a “particularly egregious way” or continues to break them even after warnings from the platform.
Most recently, American rapper Kanye West was locked out of his account after writing anti-Semitic comments in a tweet that was removed by Twitter for violating its guidelines.
