November 19, 2022, 04:35 AM
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Twitter CEO Elon Musk announced on Nov. 18 he has restored the Twitter accounts of Jorden Peterson, Babylon Bee, and Kathie Griffin.
Kathie Griffin, Jorden Peterson & Babylon Bee have been reinstated.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2022
Trump decision has not yet been made.
“New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach,” Musk added.
New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 18, 2022
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.
What happened to Peterson's account?
Peterson, 60, a Canadian media personality, clinical psychologist, author, and professor emeritus at the University of Toronto, was banned from the social media platform after a June 22, 2022 post about transgender actress Elliot Page.
“You may not promote violence against, threaten, or harass other people on the basis of race, ethnicity, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, religious affiliation, age, disability, or serious disease,” Twitter said in its notice to Peterson.
“By clicking Delete you acknowledge that your Tweet violated the Twitter rules.”
Peterson previously wrote that he would rather die than remove his tweet about the Oscar nominee’s biological sex.
He was suspended from Twitter later that day for allegedly violating their rules against hateful conduct.
One explanation for Peterson's ban was that he had referred to now-Elliott Page using the person’s former name, Ellen Page.
Peterson tweets about his return
Peterson’s first tweet after his account was restored was to post a photo of Jack Nicholson from “The Shining”.
“I’m back. Thanks @elonmusk,” he told Musk.
I'm back. Thanks @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/MnWWNDACGD
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) November 18, 2022
In response to his ban at that time, Peterson wrote a message to former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal to criticise him for his “censorious and judgmental action, undertaken in the shadowy background of your equally shadowy company”.
Peterson also highlighted that the appeals process for restoring his account lacked transparency.
He also said Twitter owes its existence to free speech.
Musk dismissed Agrawal shortly after assuming control of the company.
Which other accounts got restored?
Twitter also restored the account belonging to Christian satire outlet The Babylon Bee.
The site was banned earlier in 2022 for an article that jokingly named Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Rachel Levine as “Man of the Year”.
Comedian Kathy Griffin also received access to her account.
She was recently suspended for impersonating Musk.
Musk added that a decision has not yet been made about restoring the account belonging to former president Donald Trump, who launched his third bid for the White House earlier this week.
Musk, when he bought Twitter, said he wanted to facilitate open dialogue between citizens with differing opinions.
Top photo via Wikimedia
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