Trump Turns Down Twitter
Twitter's new owner Elon Musk has said former US President Donald Trump's account has been reinstated after running a poll in which 51.8% of users narrowly backed the move. Over 15M users took part in the vote. "The people have spoken," tweeted Mr Musk, after lifting the ban.
But the former US president may not return to the platform, earlier saying: "I don't see any reason for it".
Trump has previously said that he would not return to Twitter if Musk reversed his ban in favor of remaining on TRUTH Social, the alternative social media platform he created last year under the umbrella of his media company, Trump Media & Technology Group, to “stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech.”
Elon Musk, presently the world's richest man, took control of Twitter in October in a $44bn (£37bn) deal and Trump subsequently announced that he will stand for the Republican party nomination to run again run for the US presidency in 2024.
Twitter's previous management banned him just days after Donald Trump's supporters stormed the US Capitol in Washington DC on 6 January. Hundreds of rioters entered the complex as the US Congress attempted to certify Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election. The ensuing violence led to the deaths of four civilians and a police officer.
Soon after the riots, Donald Trump's Facebook, Instagram and YouTube accounts, which all had tens of millions of followers - were also suspended.
Before the US midterm elections Musk responded to questions about whether he would reinstate Mr Trump's account by tweeting: "If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me if Trump is coming back on this platform, Twitter would be minting money!"
The announcement comes amid reports that large numbers of staff are quitting after Mr Musk called on them to sign up for "long hours at high intensity" or leave.
Poltico: BBC: Guardian: Time: CNN: Yahoo:
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