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image source, BP Mean
Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, assured that it had been a “mistake” and something “simply stupid” to ban the twitter account of former US President Donald Trump and that he will reverse that decision if he finally buys the company.
“I do believe that it was not right to exclude Donald Trump [de Twitter]. I think it was a mistake because it alienated a large part of the country and, in the end, it didn’t achieve its goal of taking Donald Trump’s voice away,” Musk said during a Financial Times discussion Tuesday.
Twitter removed Trump’s account from the platform after the takeover of the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, arguing that some of his comments on the social network may have “incited violence.” At the time it was announced as a “temporary suspension” and not a full account cancellation.
Musk, owner of companies such as the electric car manufacturer Teslacould become the owner of Twitter in the coming months if its acquisition offer is finally approved.
When asked if he would allow Trump to have access to his account on the social network again, Musk assured that both he and Jack Dorsey, co-founder of the social network, had “the same idea” that permanent bans on Twitter should be “extremely unusual”.
image source, Reuters
“I would reverse the permanent ban (on Trump), but I don’t own Twitter yet, so it’s not something that’s going to happen permanently,” he said.
Musk added that he believed that Twitter currently had a bias in favor of leftist ideas and that the company needed to be “more balanced.”
The billionaire assured that there were still big questions regarding the viability of his purchase of the social network after having made an offer of US$44,000 million and that if the deal were to be completed, “in the best of scenarios, it could take 2 or 3 months”.
Last month, Musk affirmed his intention to buy the social network, saying he wants to turn it into a “public square” where all users can express themselves freely.
image source, FT
Elon Musk at the “Financial Times” newspaper event.
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