Elon Musk plans to end lifetime bans on Twitter as he steps into the role of CEO at his newly acquired company.
Musk, who closed his $44 billion deal with Twitter on Thursday, does not believe in lifelong prohibitions from social media sites, an anonymous source told Bloomberg.
Musk’s stance means that users who previously received lifetime bans from the platform — including former President Trump — may be allowed to return to Twitter at some point in the future.
Trump was banned from Twitter for posts that the company’s leadership said incited the violence at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021.
Critics of Musk have speculated that his takeover of Twitter might result in Trump’s return to the social media platform due to the Tesla CEO’s emphasis on the importance of free speech.
Bloomberg reported that the multibillionaire plans to replace previous Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, who was fired after Musk’s official takeover of the company.
Agrawal was joined in his exit by Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s former head of legal, policy and trust; CFO Ned Segal; and general counsel Sean Edgett.
Musk’s acquisition of the social media giant followed a rocky journey — Musk attempted to back out of his April deal with the company, but was forced by a lawsuit to follow through on the agreement.
The incoming Twitter head said on Thursday that despite his commitment to free speech and the public exchange of ideas, “Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape.”