Trump to Twitter, take Two

In just a month as Twitter’s owner, Elon Musk has fired over half the staff, upended critical verification systems and welcomed back long-banned characters such as former President Donald Trump and far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Musk’s chaotic rule, along with fears he’d loosen content moderation, has led several advertisers to suspend ad spending on the platform. Musk, who’s called himself a “free speech absolutist,” tweeted out a poll on whether or not the former president — who was banned following the Jan. 6 riots out of fear that his ongoing presence on the platform could lead to more violence — should return. Musk acknowledged that the poll was likely gamed by bots, but that didn’t stop him from immediately restoring Trump’s account once the votes were counted. Greene’s account, which was banned for spreading COVID misinformation, was also restored. Trump hasn’t tweeted and has said he would post on his own social network instead. But he also hasn’t deleted his Twitter account, leaving open the possibility that he’ll return.