Twitter/X owner Elon Musk responded favourably to the recent interview with InfoWars founder Alex Jones and Tucker Carlson, saying he would be open to the idea of welcoming Jones back on the platform.
In 2018, Jones was permanently banned from Twitter while the platform was under the control of Jack Dorsey.
Political commentator The Quartering wrote:
“Think about how much letting Alex Jones BACK on X would make the machine rage.”
Musk responded to the posts, saying he would “consider” allowing Jones to have his account back.
“In general, since this platform aspires to be the global town square, permanent bans should be extremely rare,” Musk wrote.
“Also, if he does say something false on this platform, then Community Notes will correct him, whereas that would not be the case elsewhere.”
Will consider. In general, since this platform aspires to be the global town square, permanent bans should be extremely rare.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 7, 2023
Also, if he does say something false on this platform, then @CommunityNotes will correct him, whereas that would not be the case elsewhere.
Let’s hold…
Musk said one of the main reasons he purchased Twitter was because of free speech concerns.
Jones was one of many Twitter accounts banned under the previous ownership for so-called enforced terms of service.
However, since Musk took over, most of those who had been previously banned were allowed back on the platform,
When Tucker Carlson asked Jones about rejoining Twitter/X, he said he doubted he would be allowed back on.
Jones highlighted that extremists and adversarial political leaders were still on the platform before admitting he does not blame Elon Musk for the continued ban.
“I understand I’ve been so demonized with the general public,” Jones said.
“He’s barely able to keep Twitter going right now.”
“I really appreciate what he’s done. I admire him,” he added.
“I think he’s done a lot of great work, and I see him moving in the right direction,” Jones said of Musk.
“So a lot of people attack Musk on Twitter. I trend all the time, ‘hey, if you’re such an absolutist on free speech, bring back Alex Jones.'”
“I understand that if he did that, the ADL and others would really be able to probably shut down Twitter,” Jones said.
“So I understand that he needs to go through a process before he does that,” he continued.
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