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Elon Musk’s Twitter has reinstated the personal account of far-right Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, which was banned in January for violating the platform’s COVID misinformation policies. The Georgia Republican’s reinstatement comes after Musk over the weekend reinstated the account of former President Donald Trump, who was banned in the aftermath of the deadly Jan. 6 riots on the Capitol in 2021. Twitter — at the time — feared there was a risk of further incitement to violence if Trump were allowed to remain on the platform. Trump himself has said he won’t return to Twitter and as of Monday had not tweeted since the reinstatement, although he also hasn’t deleted his account.Musk apparently based his decision to allow Trump back on the site on an unscientific Twitter poll he posted on his timeline. There appeared to be no such poll for Greene’s account. Earlier, Musk said he would not make major decisions about content or restoring banned accounts before setting up a “ content moderation council ” with diverse viewpoints. Neither Twitter nor Musk have announced the existence of such a council. Twitter did not respond to a message for comment on Monday. Musk has frequently expressed his belief that

Twitter's new owner Elon Musk at the 2022 Met Gala in New York City in May. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/ hide caption toggle caption Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/ Twitter's new owner Elon Musk at the 2022 Met Gala in New York City in May. Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/ Elon Musk's acquisition of Twitter has not exactly taken off like a rocket. After trying desperately to get out of the $44 billion purchase, he faced a court battle for reneging. So he went through with it, while complaining that he was "obviously overpaying." Mass layoffs and mass resignations have left Twitter a shadow of its former self. And Musk's decision to put blue checkmarks — Twitter's confirmation of a user's identity — up for purchase has scared away advertisers, who provide nearly all of the company's revenue. Now, despite committing to have a thoughtful process for content moderation decisions, he has let former president Donald Trump back on the site based on a Twitter poll. For Musk's biggest backers, this turmoil feels familiar — and they're hanging on for the ride. "I think none of this has gone to plan. Zero percent

CBS News is back tweeting on Twitter, after halting activity on the Elon Musk-owned social platform for some 40 hours because of “security concerns.” “After pausing for much of the weekend to assess the security concerns, CBS News and Stations is resuming its activity on Twitter as we continue to monitor the situation,” the news org’s comms team tweeted Sunday morning at 9:36 a.m. ET. On Friday, CBS News had said that “In light of the uncertainty around Twitter and out of an abundance of caution, CBS News is pausing its activity on the social media site as it continues to monitor the platform.” Multiple advertisers have said they are freezing ad spending on Twitter amid the Musk-induced chaos, but CBS News had been the biggest media outlet to publicly say it was stepping back from Twitter. CBS News’ caution was triggered by the drastic changes Musk has made at the company since taking Twitter private Oct. 27. He eliminated the senior management team, appointment himself CEO, and fired 50% of Twitter’s staff. Then on Nov. 17, hundreds of Twitter employees resigned after Musk had set a deadline for workers to confirm their commitment to “extremely hardcore” working conditions. CBS

For a website with a user base known for its use of humor and irony during dark times, the tone on Twitter lately has been noticeably sentimental. Gregory Bull/AP hide caption toggle caption Gregory Bull/AP For a website with a user base known for its use of humor and irony during dark times, the tone on Twitter lately has been noticeably sentimental. Gregory Bull/AP Twitter's recent trending hashtags, like #RIPTwitter and #TwitterDown, have signaled a virtual wake for the website as if it were already dead. Users on the site have been steadily eulogizing the social network in the chaotic days since Elon Musk's purchase of the platform. But the death knell sounded louder by Thursday, which saw yet another exodus from what's left of Twitter's workforce. That night, the top five Twitter trends in the U.S. all related to what people see as the imminent end of the site as they know it. Among the flood of tributes, a consensus has emerged about what makes the platform worth mourning: Twitter has been a uniquely accessible space where otherwise marginalized groups have felt heard and built community. Twitter has, for years, been a go-to site for news, advocacy, entertainment and

Donald Trump has been allowed back on Twitter, Elon Musk has decided. Trump was kicked off Twitter on Jan. 8 — permanently, the company said at the time — for his role in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. As of Saturday, Trump’s @realDonaldTrump account has been reactivated on Twitter along with his past tweets. However, notably absent from Trump’s account is his Jan. 6 video message to the mob of rioters in D.C. in which he said, “Go home. We love you, you’re very special.” “I know your pain, I know you’re hurt,” Trump said in that video. “We had an election that was stolen from us.” Musk, the mega-billionaire who bought Twitter for $44 billion, had said he would reconsider reinstating people Twitter had banned for various offenses, including Trump. But the billionaire said Twitter would create a content-moderation council with “widely diverse viewpoints” and that “no major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.” Instead, Musk used a poll of his 117 million followers to determine whether Trump would be unbanned. Musk put up the poll Friday, and after 15 million votes, there were 51.8% in favor of letting Trump

Mr. Musk, who had asked Twitter users about whether to bring back the former president to the service, said, “The people have spoken.”Send any friend a storyAs a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Anyone can read what you share.Former President Donald J. Trump at an event at Mar-a-Lago on Friday. His account returned to Twitter on Saturday.Credit...Rebecca Blackwell/Associated PressNov. 19, 2022Updated 9:43 p.m. ETElon Musk said on Twitter on Saturday that he would reinstate former President Donald J. Trump to the platform as part of a shake-up of the social media service, with Mr. Trump’s account quickly showing up again on the site.Mr. Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last month, had asked users on the platform starting late Friday afternoon about whether to allow Mr. Trump back onto the service. Twitter had barred Mr. Trump after the riot on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol, saying his posts had the risk of inciting violence.More than 15 million votes were logged in answer to Mr. Musk’s question about whether to reinstate Mr. Trump, according to the results that Mr. Musk included in his tweet, with nearly 52 percent in favor of the former

Elon Musk Trump Twitter Reinstatement ... Vote Yes Or No!!! 11/18/2022 5:35 PM PT Elon Musk seems to be leaving the fate of Donald Trump's Twitter account up to bird app users ... asking folks to vote on his reinstatement. Elon posted a Twitter poll Friday on his account, asking users to vote either "Yes" or "No" on reinstating the former president's Twitter page. Musk first posted the poll then left a reply ... "Vox Populi, Vox Dei" ... a Latin phrase meaning, "the voice of the people is the voice of God." Elon's poll already has 1.4 million responses and counting, and it's not even been live for an hour. The poll will be up for 24 hours, giving folks until Saturday evening to decide. As you know, Trump was banned from Twitter by the previous ownership in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot. The former president is also banned from other mainstream social media apps. Elon's hinted at Trump's return to Twitter since buying the bird app for $44 billion ... but this is the first time he's sought feedback through a Twitter poll. Stay tuned ...

A cartoon by Bruno Lanza satirizes Elon Musk as Twitter hangs in the balance. (artwork courtesy Bruno Lanza) Watching movies about the apocalypse, I’m always struck by the same annoying thought: It would be more realistic if their characters were doom-scrolling on Twitter! Going on Twitter has become the definitive and reflexive mechanism for processing the severity of how horrible things in the world really are — so it’s an uncanny time to be on the platform, which is rumored to capsize at any minute now. If Twitter crashes, where do we go to talk about Twitter crashing? The conundrum is almost a little bit like that posed by dying, and some of us are coping with this complex philosophical problem, naturally, by making memes. Pre-mortem revelry has reigned as the dominant mood ahead of Twitter’s collapse, rather than existential dread. (all screenshots Jasmine Liu/Hyperallergic) On the upside, this question is engendering a cornucopia of revelrous and subversive content, as users ironically pay tribute to the site while lampooning its new owner Elon Musk — the kingpin of Twitter’s demise, who earlier this week issued an ultimatum to employees to do “extremely hardcore” work or leave. Sensibly, many chose to leave.

Nov. 17, 2022Updated: Nov. 17, 2022 6:14 p.m. The Twitter logo is seen at the social media company's headquarters in San Francisco on Nov. 11.Stephen Lam, MBI / Associated Press Elon Musk is allowing some Twitter employees to stay remote with manager approval, according to an email sent to staff Thursday reported by Bloomberg. Musk said employees “making an excellent contribution” and who have support from managers can work from home, a quick reversal just a week after he mandated a full-time office return. Despite the order, Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters was quiet last Friday. The move comes as employees had until 2 p.m. Pacific time on Thursday to commit to Musk’s vision of the company or resign. Numerous Twitter employees said on the website that they had left on Thursday afternoon, some using the hashtag #LoveWhereYouWorked. The departures come after deep cuts of roughly half of the company’s 7,500 staff two weeks ago, forcing the company to maintain operations with a much reduced staff. Recruiters previously told The Chronicle that requiring workers in the office could lead to more resignations, as workers have gotten used to flexibility and moved away from office locations. Twitter, which laid off its communications department

A mounting number of Twitter employees appeared to resign after Elon Musk asked workers to decide by Thursday evening if they wanted to continue at the social media giant, according to multiple reports.  USA TODAY has reached out to Twitter for comment. Musk told employees this week they “will need to be extremely hardcore” to build “a breakthrough Twitter 2.0,” and working long hours in a high-intensity environment would be part of that push.Musk asked employees to hit "yes" on a link in an email if they wanted to be part of the "new Twitter" by 5 p.m. Eastern on Thursday. Employees who did not reply "yes" would receive three months of severance. And a pool of employees have resigned as of Thursday evening, according to multiple reports citing unidentified current and former employees. Internal communications channels were filled with an emoji signaling a salute, an apparent symbol of leaving the company.  Hundreds of Twitter employees appeared to have made the decision to leave, according to multiple reports. Musk last month completed a $44 billion takeover of the social media platform, which has already laid off thousands of employees. Musk also recently cut content moderation contractors.   Twitter: Musk gives workers deadline to decide job fateAn ultimatum, sudden