Musk just brought tens of thousands of the worst people on the web back to Twitter

Tech billionaire Elon Musk announced last week that he plans to restore accounts banned from Twitter. Earlier, he had a fraction of users vote on whether there should be a “general amnesty” for blocked accounts if they didn’t break the law or spread spam messages. 72.4 percent said yes. It is unclear how many votes were cast by bots i.e. automated accounts. US technology portal The Verge smugly headlined: “Elon Musk Just Decided to Bring the Baddest People on the Internet Back to Twitter”.

Now it can be seen: Musk is not wasting time and has already opened the floodgates wide. Technology insider service Platformer reported Tuesday that Twitter had begun unlocking about 62,000 profiles, each with more than 10,000 followers. Including one account with 5 million and 75 accounts with more than a million followers each. Among Twitter employees, the mass unlock has been dubbed “The Big Bang”.

According to the platformer, the names of the accounts are not yet known, but there is a tracker on the web that shows which accounts have been unblocked every day since Musk took over Twitter. Before long, the most unlocked profiles will be listed there.

Musk fires content moderators and parries with conspiracy narrators

The overall recovery of tens of thousands of accounts can have far-reaching consequences. This is “particularly in regions where Twitter’s moderation and compliance capabilities have been eroded by the company’s new boss,” Platformer writes.

As a reminder, one of Musk’s first acts was to fire approximately 5,000 content moderators and data analysts who eliminate hate speech, flag misinformation, and specialize in tracking down government disinformation campaigns.

Even before the “general amnesty”, Musk and Donald Trump had activated several right-wing influencer accounts, which had been blocked for homophobic and racist statements, among other things. Musk has also repeatedly endorsed statements by right-wing conservative accounts that spread conspiracy theories.

On a collision course with Apple

Musk puts Twitter on a direct collision course with Apple and other advertisers who fear for their image. The iPhone maker was Twitter’s second-largest advertiser, according to the Washington Post. In the first quarter alone, Apple reportedly spent $48 million on ads on Twitter. Musk tweeted that Apple had “largely” stopped advertising on Twitter. “Hate Free Speech in America?” Musks responded to Apple’s decision to suspend ads on Twitter.

According to the independent organization Media Matters, half of the top 100 ad partners have “apparently suspended” their ads due to concerns about developments at Twitter. Musk personally called several CEOs to berate them for removing the ad, the Financial Times reported.

“What’s going on here, Tim Cook?”

Musk further claimed that Apple threatened to remove the Twitter app from the App Store without explanation. It would be tacky to him if Apple actually kicked Twitter out of the App Store for inadequate content moderation.

That is not entirely unrealistic: Apple has already temporarily removed controversial apps such as the Twitter clone Parler, which is used by right-wing conservatives in the US, from the App Store. The fact that App Store boss Philip Schiller deactivated his Twitter profile a few days ago can also be interpreted as an ominous sign.

However, in the past, Apple often left banned apps when they introduced minimal content controls. Even Donald Trump’s Twitter clone Truth Social can be found on the App Store. It therefore seems unlikely that Twitter will be permanently banned.

Apple is more famous or notorious for blocking app updates until app developers comply with their demands. When companies disagree with Apple, they usually remain silent, knowing that they are getting the short end of the stick. Musk does the exact opposite. With several tweets he tries to put pressure on Apple publicly.

His criticism of the high app store fees (Apple taps up to 30 percent of app developers’ revenue) and the app store monopoly on the iPhone hit Apple’s sore spot. Competition authorities in various countries are currently investigating whether Apple is abusing its market power in this regard. The last thing Apple needs is a Musk gone mad, bringing the antitrust case back to the media and hammering it into the minds of consumers and politicians alike.

As usual, his fans, some of whom were fanatical, immediately took to Twitter after Musk’s rant, also attacking Apple and calling for a boycott of Apple products. Apple needn’t worry about this. Apart from a small minority of obsessed Musk and Tesla fans, no one will heed the boycott calls.

However, the biggest threat to Musk is not Apple, but the EU.

Musk’s endgame with the EU

The EU is demanding that major internet platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and presumably also Twitter act more consistently and swiftly than before against hate speech, disinformation or war propaganda and immediately remove illegal content. According to the Financial Times, the EU wants to scrutinize Twitter. Brussels fears increasing problems with fake profiles and fake news, as Twitter fired thousands of temporary workers who specialized in detecting political disinformation.

Under Musk, Twitter lost its entire office in Brussels. The small team was responsible for complying with EU digital regulations, some of which have only just come into force. At the same time, the EU lost its contacts on Twitter overnight, as they themselves were fired or resigned.

Brussels unequivocally warned Musk in April: “It’s not your rules that apply here.”

That was not an empty threat.

The new EU digital law allows governments to require major online platforms to provide enough staff to moderate user contributions. Otherwise there is a risk of regular fines or even a ban in the EU.

“free speech absolutist”

Musk describes himself as a “free speech absolutist” and has long represented a view of free speech similar to that of Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg. What is not expressly prohibited by law must be tolerated. Tech companies thus relieve themselves of responsibility and save costs because they need less content moderation. Critics therefore accuse Musk of turning the social network into a breeding ground for hatred and radicalization without sufficient measure.

Musk counters that, in his view, Twitter has restricted freedom of expression too much in recent years. In recent years, Twitter has taken increasingly consistent action against hate speech, incitement to violence and false information, such as about the corona virus. After the acquisition of Musk, Twitter no longer takes action against false information about the corona virus. The associated measures were already discontinued last Wednesday.

Elon Musk began his Twitter reign by declaring that “comedy is legal again.” Now it seems like almost anything is allowed’, Platformer sums up.