Elon Musk says Twitter will enact a general amnesty for suspended accounts next week.
The billionaire continued his ad hoc strategy of making policy by Twitter poll, asking users on Wednesday, “Should Twitter offer a general amnesty to suspended accounts, provided that they have not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam?” He did not specify which laws.
A majority (72 percent) of the 3.1 million users voted in favor of the amnesty for blocked accounts, a group that includes former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke, former Trump advisors Steve Bannon and Roger Stone, right wing writer Milo Yiannopoulos, singer Azealia Banks, pharma bro Martin Shkreli and neo-fascist group the Proud Boys.
“The people have spoken,” Musk tweeted when the poll had ended. “Amnesty begins next week. Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” he tweeted, using the Latin phrase that means “the voice of the people is the voice of God.”
Musk has previously used a poll to decide the fate of Donald Trump’s suspension from Twitter. More than 15 million votes were cast, with 51.8 percent in favor of reinstating Trump’s account, although the former president has yet to tweet. As well as Trump, a number of other banned accounts have been reinstated, including Jordan Peterson and internet personality Andrew Tate.
