Upon hearing Elon Musk say that he would reinstate former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account if his purchase of the company is successful, the American Civil Liberties Union released a statement applauding the decision.
In a statement attributed to the organization’s executive director, Anthony D. Romero, the ACLU said that “[Y]ou’d be hard-pressed to find a more steadfast opponent of Trump and his policies than the ACLU, but Elon Musk’s decision to re-platform President Trump is the right call. When a handful of individuals possess so much power over the most important forums for political speech, they should exercise that power with restraint.
”If Trump violates the platform rules again, Twitter should first employ lesser penalties like removing the offending post — rather than banning a political figure. Like it or not, President Trump is one of the most important political figures in this country, and the public has a strong interest in hearing his speech.
”Indeed, some of Trump’s most offensive tweets ended up being critical evidence in lawsuits filed against him and his administration. And we should know — we filed over 400 legal actions against him.”
In remarks at the Financial Times’ “Future of the Car” event, Musk said that Twitter ban’s of Trump was a “morally bad decision to be clear and foolish in the extreme… I guess the answer is I would reverse the perma-ban.”
Trump, however, had said he has no plans to return to Twitter. He told Fox News last month: “I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on Truth [Social]. I hope Elon buys Twitter because he’ll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on Truth.”
Via Newsmax