NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Days after taking over Twitter and a week before the U.S. midterm elections, billionaire Elon Musk has positioned himself as moderator-in-chief of one of the most important social media platforms in American politics.
Musk has said he won鈥檛 make major decisions about content or restoring banned accounts before setting up a 鈥渃ontent moderation council" with diverse viewpoints. But his own behavior as a prolific tweeter has signaled otherwise.
He鈥檚 engaged directly with figures on the political right who are appealing for looser restrictions, including a Republican candidate for Arizona secretary of state who credits Musk with enabling him to begin tweeting again after his account was briefly suspended Monday.
Musk even changed his profile to 鈥淭witter Complaint Hotline Operator鈥� 鈥� with a photo of himself when he was a toddler holding a telephone. But it is almost impossible for those outside of Twitter to know what strings he is pulling or whose accounts have been suspended: The company has stopped responding to media questions, except for the few that Musk answers by tweet.
Musk's promised interventions A conservative political podcaster shared examples of the platform allegedly favoring liberals and secretively downgrading conservative voices 鈥� a common criticism that Twitter's previous leaders dismissed as inaccurate. 鈥淚 will be digging in more today,鈥� Musk responded.
It continued when the daughter of Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, whose provocative critiques of 鈥減olitically correct鈥� culture and feminism are popular with some right-wing activists, appealed for Musk to restore her father's account after a tweet about transgender actor Elliot Page that apparently ran afoul of Twitter鈥檚 rules on hateful conduct.
鈥淎nyone suspended for minor & dubious reasons will be freed from Twitter jail,鈥� Musk pledged. He had months earlier said in reference to Peterson that Twitter was 鈥済oing way too far in squashing dissenting opinions.鈥�
One of Musk's first big moves was an open letter to advertisers 鈥� Twitter鈥檚 chief revenue source 鈥� promising that he would not let Twitter descend into a 鈥渇ree-for-all hellscape鈥� as he follows through with his plans to promote free speech on the platform. And he's suggesting asking users to as a way to diversify revenue.
The check mark has been criticized as a symbol of elitism on the platform. But its primary purpose has been to verify that accounts in the public eye 鈥� such as politicians, brands and journalists 鈥� are who they say they are. It鈥檚 been a tool to prevent impersonation and help stem the flow of misinformation.
But some still have their worries about Musk opening the platform to that's bad for their brands. General Motors has said it will suspend advertising on Twitter as it monitors the platform under Musk, and others are facing pressure to review their own plans. On Tuesday, more than three dozen advocacy organizations sent an open letter to Twitter鈥檚 top 20 advertisers, calling on them to commit to halting advertising on the platform if Twitter under Musk undermines "brand safety鈥� and guts content moderation.
Over the weekend, the billionaire posted 鈥� then deleted 鈥� an article that about the attack on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi鈥檚 husband. And much of his commentary in recent days has been a response to appeals from conservative voices.
In a text exchange with The Associated Press, Mark Finchem, the Republican running to become Arizona's secretary of state, said his access to the platform was restored quickly after reaching out to Musk via his personal Twitter handle. Asked why his account was suspended, Finchem said: 鈥淧erhaps you should reach out to Elon Musk. We were banned for an unknown reason, we reached out to him and 45 minutes later we were reinstated.鈥�
Finchem, who questions the results of the 2020 presidential election and was at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, has drawn national attention for his statements about election security and his ability to change election rules if he wins the state鈥檚 top election post next week.
Musk tweeted Monday evening that he was 鈥淟ooking into it鈥� in response to a complaint about Finchem鈥檚 apparent suspension. The complaint came from attorney Jenna Ellis, who was a legal adviser to former President Donald Trump鈥檚 campaign. About 40 minutes later, Finchem posted a 鈥渢est鈥� tweet on his account, which was followed by a lengthier post thanking Musk for restoring his ability to use the site.
鈥淭hank you @elonmusk for stopping the commie who suspended me from Twitter a week before the election,鈥� Finchem wrote in the Tweet. 鈥淭witter is much better with you at the helm.鈥�
Jared Holt, a senior research manager at The Institute for Strategic Dialogue, said big social media companies have typically operated on the whims of their owners. But 鈥渢hat problem is especially glaring when somebody like Elon Musk takes the reins and kind of establishes himself as king of the platform, rather than an owner trying to run a coherent business," Holt said.
At the same time, Musk has sent mixed signals about his intentions. Despite overt examples of appealing to conservative calls and complaints about Twitter鈥檚 policies, there鈥檚 also plenty of evidence that the platform鈥檚 policies on combating misinformation are still in effect. Separately, Musk has defended Twitter鈥檚 ongoing head of trust and safety, Yoel Roth, after some conservative users called for his firing over past comments expressing liberal views.
Roth remained on the job this week after other top executives were fired or resigned. And apart from Musk, he appeared to be the chief public voice of Twitter鈥檚 content moderation, explaining that the company spent the weekend working to remove a 鈥渟urge in hateful conduct鈥� following Musk鈥檚 takeover.
鈥淲e鈥檝e all made some questionable tweets, me more than most, but I want to be clear that I support Yoel,鈥� Musk tweeted in response to a complaint from another conservative commentator. 鈥淢y sense is that he has high integrity, and we are all entitled to our political beliefs.鈥�
Some longtime Twitter observers have expressed skepticism about the effectiveness of Musk's planned content moderation council. In part, that's because Twitter already has a trust and safety advisory council to address moderation questions.
鈥淭ruly I can鈥檛 imagine how it would differ,鈥� said Danielle Citron, a University of Virginia law professor who sits on the council and has been working with Twitter since 2009 to tackle online harms, such as threats and stalking. 鈥淥ur council has the full spectrum of views on free speech.鈥�
Citron said she鈥檚 still waiting to hear if the council will be having its next meeting, scheduled for the day after the midterms.
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O'Brien reported from Providence, Rhode Island.. AP Writer Bob Christie in Phoenix contributed to this report.
Matt O'brien And Haleluya Hadero, The Associated Press
