Following the announcement Monday that billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk had entered into an agreement to buy Twitter for $44 billion, Fox News host Tucker Carlson and others have rejoined the platform.
Carlson’s account was suspended from Twitter last month for violating the company’s hateful conduct rules. According to Fox News, suspension stemmed from tweets referring to U.S. Assistant Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine, a transgender woman, as a man.
Babylon Bee, a satirical account that was also involved in the tweets, was also blocked from Twitter.
As of Monday, Carlson’s account was up and running again.
Mark R. Levin, a Fox News host, also announced he would return to the platform under its new ownership.
Additionally, group called Truckers for Freedom said it supported Musk’s purchase of Twitter.
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s personal account was still suspended as of Tuesday. However, she seemed hopeful that her account and others might come back.
Upon completion of the sale to Musk – who is known for being the CEO of companies such as Tesla Inc. and SpaceX – Twitter “will become a privately held company,” according to a press release.
It said the transaction, has been unanimously approved by the Twitter Board of Directors and is expected to close in 2022 subject to certain conditions.
“The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon's proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing. The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter's stockholders,” said Twitter’s Independent Board Chair Bret Taylor of the sale.
Twitter’s CEO Parag Agrawal said the company “has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world. Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important.”
Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s co-founder, said he believes the sale to Musk is the “right path” for the company.
According to Market Rebellion, Dorsey made $974 million in the sale to Musk.
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” said Musk. “I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans.
Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”
Musk has also said he wants to get rid of “spam bots” on the site.
A tweet about that plan elicited a response from Chelsea Manning, a transgender activist and whistleblower who was reportedly dating Musk’s ex-partner Grimes as of last month.
Others have criticized the sale of Twitter to Musk, including the American Civil Liberties Union,
“We should be worried about any powerful central actor, whether it’s a government or any wealthy individual — even if it's an ACLU member — having so much control over the boundaries of our political speech online,” said the organization.
While Musk’s Twitter takeover has brought some users back to the site, others have said they plan to or might decide to leave due to the purchase, including “The Good Place” actress Jameela Jamil and activist/writer Amy Siskind.
According to a Twitter poll posted by activist and Marjory Stoneman Douglas school shooting survivor David Hogg indicated that most users would stay on Twitter after the Musk purchase.
One suspended user who is not expected to return to Twitter is former President Donald Trump. He told Fox News that he plans to stay off the platform and use his own, Truth Social. As news of Musk’s Twitter purchase came through, stock of Digital World Acquisition Corp., a company developing the app fell, according to Market Watch.
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