Twitter CEO Elon Musk announced on Friday that his company restored the account belonging to DailyWire+ host Jordan Peterson.
“New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach,” Musk said.
Peterson, who was banned from the social media platform earlier this year for a post about transgender actress Elliot Page, previously wrote that he would rather die than compromise on telling the truth about the Oscar nominee’s biological sex.
I'm back. Thanks @elonmusk pic.twitter.com/MnWWNDACGD
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) November 18, 2022
Peterson’s first tweet after his account was restored was the iconic photo of Jack Nicholson from “The Shining.”
“I’m back. Thanks,” he told Musk.
Peterson wrote a message to former Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, who Musk dismissed shortly after assuming control of the company, criticizing the executive for his “censorious and judgmental action, undertaken in the shadowy background of your equally shadowy company,” noting that the appeals process for restoring his account lacked transparency.
“In principle, at least, Twitter is a platform that owes its very existence to the habit, tradition and right of free speech,” Peterson contended, “and has as the only possible justification for that existence outside of sheer instrumental greed, its hypothetical contribution to the exchange of views that make up part of philosophical and political discourse.”
Musk has acknowledged that the left-wing establishment has a massive censorship apparatus to which conservatives are largely helpless. He noted that a variety of left-wing groups pressured advertisers to pause or suspend their relationships with Twitter, resulting in a significant blow to revenues.
Twitter restored accounts belonging to Christian satire outlet The Babylon Bee, which was banned from the social media site earlier this year for an article that jokingly named Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Rachel Levine as “Man of the Year.” Musk, a vocal fan of The Babylon Bee and a former guest on their podcast, consulted with the company’s leadership before launching his acquisition bid, according to Babylon Bee CEO Seth Dillon.
Comedian Kathy Griffin, who was recently suspended for impersonating Musk, also received access to her account. Musk added that a decision has not yet been made about restoring the account belonging to former President Donald Trump, who launched his third bid for the White House earlier this week.
Thanks Elen 🙂 @elonmusk
Really.
Thank you sir.
Probably best to reinstate Trump too. Let him do what he needs to do, and let the people decide. Right out in the open. Where such things should be decided. https://t.co/fmTEbVNDHw
— Dr Jordan B Peterson (@jordanbpeterson) November 18, 2022
Musk recently told the public that he purchased the company in order to facilitate open dialogue between citizens with differing opinions.
“The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence,” the multibillionaire wrote in a statement. “There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far right wing and far left wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society.”
Musk has reduced headcount at the company by half and fired a handful of employees who publicly criticized him.
An attorney for the company, for example, posted a message viewable to all staff arguing that Musk was introducing the risk of violating a previous settlement agreement with the Federal Trade Commission by allegedly telling engineers to “self-certify compliance” with regulations. The message also contained a number of secondary grievances against Musk, including the accusation that he does not care about “human rights activists” or “dissidents.”