Elon Musk says Twitter will form content moderation council with 'diverse viewpoints'

A day after closing the Twitter deal, Elon Musk on Friday announced that the social media platform will form a content moderation council with "widely diverse viewpoints". No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes, he announced on Twitter.


"The bird is freed," he tweeted in an apparent nod to his desire to see the company has fewer limits on content that can be posted.


Earlier, in a note to Twitter advertisers, Musk had said: "The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence."

The platform "obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!" Musk said.

"Twitter aspires to be the most respected advertising platform in the world that strengthens your brand and grows your enterprise. To everyone who has partnered with us, I thank you. Let us build something extraordinary together."

The announcement comes amid growing concerns that Musk's 'absolute free speech' stance may result in a surge in harassment and misinformation, with Musk himself known for trolling other Twitter users.

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On similar lines, Musk had earlier said that he intends to do away with permanent bans on users because he doesn’t believe in lifelong prohibitions. This could augur well for public figures such as former US President Donald Trump and Bollywood actor Kangana Ranaut who have been banned from Twitter for their posts and tweets.

The mercurial Tesla chief's tumultuous, $44 billion bid to buy the company concluded after months of uncertainty and speculation, and now users could start to see his plans.

Musk tweeted "the bird is freed" on Thursday, a jokey reference to the firm's logo, shortly after he said he made the purchase "to help humanity, whom I love".

Also read | A series of chats that possibly sealed the fate of Twitter's ex-CEO Parag Agrawal

Musk’s first action point came with the sacking of some of the top-level brass at Twitter, which included the Indian-origin CEO Parag Agrawal, Vijaya Gadde, the head of legal, policy, and trust; chief financial officer Ned Segal, who joined Twitter in 2017; and Sean Edgett, who was the Twitter’s general counsel since 2012.

According to Insider, the former Indian-origin CEO is set to receive the largest payout of $38.7 million, largely due "to the entirety of his shares vesting upon his firing".

Earlier this month, Musk brought the deal back on the table after previously trying to walk away from it. Musk had said he was excited to buy Twitter but he and his co-investors are overpaying.

Musk is expected to reorganise Twitter and cut the workforce by a massive margin.

Musk, however, told Twitter employees during his visit to its headquarters that he is not going to lay off 75 per cent of the workforce when he takes over the micro-blogging platform.