On Friday, billionaire Twitter owner Elon Musk announced the first three suspended accounts on the platform that he had reinstated.
Those banned accounts belong to the politically left-leaning comedian Kathie Griffin, politically right-leaning psychologist and author Jordan Peterson and the right-leaning satirical publication the Babylon Bee.
The ban reversals come after Musk criticized the moderation practices and permanent account suspensions under the social media platform’s previous ownership. Musk has said he disagreed with Twitter’s decision to ban former President Donald Trump and he has indicated he would reinstate Trump’s account. For now though the potential reinstatement of Trump’s Twitter account will have to wait.
“New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach,” Musk tweeted. “Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter. You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out, which is no different from rest of Internet.”
“Kathie Griffin, Jorden Peterson & Babylon Bee have been reinstated,” Musk added. “Trump decision has not yet been made.”
Griffin saw her account temporarily suspended under Musk’s ownership last week after the she and several other left-leaning Twitter users modified their accounts to impersonate Musk. Griffin has been a frequent critic of Republican politicians and even did a 2017 photo shoot of a mock-beheading of then-President Donald Trump.
Peterson, who partnered this year with the openly conservative Daily Wire, was suspended from Twitter in June after tweeting about transgender actor Elliot Page, who is female and was born as Ellen Page. Peterson used Page’s birth name and appeared to criticize the surgery Page underwent as part of the transition, suggesting that such a surgery under other circumstance would be criminal.
“Remember when pride was a sin? And Ellen Page just had her breasts removed by a criminal physician,” Peterson had tweeted.
Twitter considered Peterson’s tweet about Page to be an act of hateful conduct targeting Page’s gender identity.
Following the tweet, Peterson was blocked from being able to fully use his Twitter account and told that he could not regain full access until he deleted the tweet about Page. Peterson refused the ultimatum and has been inactive on the platform since.
The Babylon Bee was suspended from Twitter in March for their own satirical barbs at a transgender individual, Adml. Rachel Levine, a biological male born under the name Richard Levine who identifies as a woman. After USA Today recognized Levine as one of its “Women of the Year” honorees, the Babylon Bee satirized USA Today by listing Levine as their “Man of the Year.”
The Babylon Bee saw their account suspended and was issued a similar ultimatum to either delete a tweet sharing their satirical article or remain unable to use their account features.
