Musk Announces Reinstatement of 3 Twitter Accounts, Reveals Status of Trump Decision

Elon Musk annoyed folks of all political persuasions yesterday when he announced that three of the biggest names previously dropped by Twitter for policy violations got their accounts back.

Comedian and former headliner of “My Life on the D-List” Kathy Griffin, clinical psychologist Jorden Peterson and conservative Christian satire website The Babylon Bee all saw their accounts reinstated by the Musk-owned social media platform.

Kathie Griffin, Jorden Peterson & Babylon Bee have been reinstated.

Trump decision has not yet been made.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2022

Peterson and The Bee (which sounds like a bad network private detective show from the 80s) both tweeted soon after the news was made public. Peterson compared himself to the insane ax murderer played by Jack Nicholson in “The Shining,” whereas The Bee riffed on a previous tweet of Musk’s.

I’m back. Thanks @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/MnWWNDACGD

— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) November 18, 2022

We’re back. Let that sink in.

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) November 18, 2022

Griffin, perhaps miffed by the fact that Musk had misspelled her first name in his tweet, does not appear to have accessed her Twitter account since its reinstatement — a tremendous loss to the comedic arts and political commentary, I’m sure.

Minutes prior to that tweet, Musk had tweeted the principles by which some of these decisions were being made, saying essentially that Twitter would not prevent users from seeing content that some might find offensive, but wouldn’t help those responsible to promote it.

That seems reasonable — the right to utter free speech does not imply the right to force anyone to listen to you, obviously — so it’s fair to assume that the left, which is no fan of reason, started giving live birth to cows yesterday afternoon.

New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach.

Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter.

You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out, which is no different from rest of Internet.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2022

Musk also noted that a decision on Trump’s reinstatement was still being made, setting off some on the right who apparently believe the former president to be a liar — Trump has already said that we wouldn’t return to the platform, as Forbes (and many others) have previously reported.

This is weak and you know it.

“They” are going to hate you whether you reinstate Trump or not.

Make Free Speech Great Again, Elon!

— SETH WEATHERS (@sethweathers) November 18, 2022

Soon. pic.twitter.com/7MU4QPwqpm

— Alex Bruesewitz 🇺🇸 (@alexbruesewitz) November 18, 2022

Good start

Reverse all permanent bans for lawful speech

Bring back Project Veritas
Bring back James O’Keefe
Bring back Donald Trump
Bring back Steve Bannon
Bring back Marjorie Taylor Greene
Bring back Carpe Donktum
Bring back @ALX

Bring them all back.pic.twitter.com/UmwxPMWWkf

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) November 18, 2022

TBH don’t see how you can call Twitter a free speech platform and have one of the leading presidential candidates banned from the platform.

— Chairman (@WSBChairman) November 18, 2022

OK, I don’t actually think these folks would all accuse Trump of lying; I think they’re just excited at the possibility and aren’t really thinking about what they’re tweeting. Trump, of course, has his own social media platform now — Truth Social. To come back to Twitter would be to compete against himself, and Trump, whatever else you might think of him, is too good a businessman to do that.

Musk also cannot, as a reasonable businessman himself, risk losing all of Twitter’s employees at once, which could conceivably happen were he to make such a dramatic move so quickly. Even Trump’s strongest supporters would have to agree that there wouldn’t be much point to bringing Trump back to a non-functioning social media platform.

Still, reinstating Trump’s Twitter account could go far toward cementing Musk’s rebranding of Twitter as a home for free speech of all kinds — if only as a symbolic gesture.

It would also have the left tying themselves up in knots, which some would consider a worthwhile goal all by itself.

Contributing Editor

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George Upper is the former Editor-in-Chief of The Western Journal and an occasional co-host of “WJ Live,” powered by The Western Journal. He is currently a contributing editor in the areas of faith, politics and culture. A former U.S. Army special operator, teacher and consultant, he is a lifetime member of the NRA and an active volunteer leader in his church. Born in Foxborough, Massachusetts, he has lived most of his life in central North Carolina.

George Upper, is the former editor-in-chief of The Western Journal and is now a contributing editor in the areas of faith, politics and culture. He is a former U.S. Army special operator, teacher, manager and consultant. Born in Massachusetts, he graduated from Foxborough High School before joining the Army and spending most of the next three years at Fort Bragg. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English as well as Master’s in Business Administration, all from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He now lives in central North Carolina with his wife and a Maine Coon named Princess Leia, for whose name he is not responsible. He is active in the teaching and security ministries in his church and is a lifetime member of the NRA. In his spare time he shoots, reads a lot of Lawrence Block and John D. MacDonald, and watches Bruce Campbell movies. He is a fan of individual freedom, Tommy Bahama, fine-point G-2 pens and the Oxford comma.

Birthplace

Foxborough, Massachusetts

Nationality

American

Honors/Awards

Beta Gamma Sigma

Education

B.A., English, UNCG; M.A., English, UNCG; MBA, UNCG

Location

North Carolina

Languages Spoken

English

Topics of Expertise

Faith, Business, Leadership and Management, Military, Politics