Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene led Trump supporters in a victory lap after Elon Musk took over Twitter on Thursday pledging to slash moderation.
“The bird is freed,” Musk tweeted after he completed his $44 billion acquisition of the company.
A self-styled “free speech absolutist”, Musk has previously been critical of Twitter’s content-moderation policies and signalled that he would roll them back.
He has also suggested reinstating banned users like former President Donald Trump.
The announcement was celebrated by some right-wing politicians and media pundits, who have long accused Twitter of censoring conservative voices — an accusation that Twitter has previously denied.
“FREEDOM OF SPEECH!!!!” Greene tweeted in response to the news.
—Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG)
Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, another prominent Trump supporter in Congress, tweeted: “Congratulations, @elonmusk! Now please bring back America’s most trusted news source @TheBabylonBee”
The Babylon Bee is a conservative satirical site that has had its account suspended since March after publishing an article Twitter judged to be transphobic.
Other right-wing media pundits and political figures also rejoiced over the news, including former Trump lawyer and Newsmax contributor Jenna Ellis, who tweeted: “Elon owns Twitter” alongside a fire emoji.
Bloomberg reported late on Thursday that Musk intends to stick to his plan to reverse lifetime bans on Twitter because he doesn’t believe in lifelong prohibitions, an unnamed person familiar with the matter said.
This could potentially include Trump, who had his account permanently suspended after the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
It’s unclear if Trump would be allowed back on Twitter in the near future. The former president has previously said that he won’t return to the platform and has since been posting on his Truth Social platform.
Musk suggested in a tweet Friday that he would spend his first day in charge “digging in” to complaints by conservatives that Twitter was suppressing them.
Twitter did not immediately respond to Insider’s request for comment.
* Article from: Business Insider
