Musk Says Twitter Has Reinstated Kathy Griffin, Jordan Peterson and Babylon Bee — but No Decision on Donald Trump Yet

Elon Musk, in the middle of a crisis of his own making after hundreds ofTwitter employees quit following his demand they commit “hardcore” totoileting at the company, found the time to pardon comedian Kathy Griffin forthe crime of impersonating the tech tycoon.

Griffin was suspended from Twitter in early November after she changed heraccount name to “Elon Musk” and used his pic for her profile. Griffin tookover the Twitter account of Maggie Griffin, her late mother, after beingbanned and has continued to troll Musk. On Friday, sheresponded fromthat account, “Dear Eilon. You f**ked up, fool. I’m going downstairs to mybasement of heads. You’re up. Xxoo, The Header.”

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As for whether or not to let Donald Trump back on Twitter, Musk said, a“decision has not yet been made.” Trump was permanently banned from Twitterand other mainstream internet platforms in early 2021 for his posts supportingthe Jan. 6 rioters who attacked the U.S. Capitol.

Musk has accused Twitter of censoring conservatives and he has previously saidhe would reverse Twitter’s permanent ban on Trump, calling it a “morally baddecision.” Trump has previously insisted he would not rejoin Twitter,regardless of who owns it, to stick to his own (ironically named) TruthSocial, a Twitter knockoff.

In addition to reinstating Griffin — whose first name he misspelled as“Kathie” — Musk also said author Jordan Peterson (which he misspelled as“Jorden”) and satire site Babylon Bee have had their Twitter accountsrestored.

Peterson, a right-wing Canadian psychologist, was suspended in June 2022 underTwitter’s rules prohibiting hateful conduct after he tweeted, “Remember whenpride was a sin?” He then deadnamed Elliot Page, the actor who in 2020announced that he is transgender, and said that Page’s “breasts [were] removedby a criminal physician.”

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In March 2022, Twitter suspended the right-wing Babylon Bee, also under thecompany’s “hateful conduct” policy, after the publication announced that ithad selected Dr. Rachel Levine, a transgender woman who is US AssistantSecretary for Health, as its “Man of the Year.” The website bills itself as“your trusted source for Christian news satire.”

In response to a Twitter user who exhorted Musk to “bring back Alex Jones,”the conspiracy-monger who has been ordered to pay nearly $1.5 billion tofamilies of victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting, Muskreplied“No.”

Musk, shortly after he closed the $44 billion Twitter takeover on Oct. 27,said the company would create a content-moderation council with “widelydiverse viewpoints” and that “no major content decisions or accountreinstatements will happen before that council convenes.” It’s unclear whethersuch a council was formed.

Upon completing the Twitter deal, Musk fired the senior management team andlaid off 50% of its 7,500 employees. On Thursday, more than 1,200 employeesquit over Musk’s “hardcore” workplace fiat, the New York Times reported. Thatwould leave around 2,500 staffers remaining, about one-third its previousheadcount.

In a thread Friday, Musk said Twitter’s new policy ensures “freedom of speech,but not freedom of reach.”

According to Twitter’s CEO, that means “negative/hate tweets will be maxdeboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter.” He added,“You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out, which is nodifferent from rest of Internet.”

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