- Elon Musk lifted Catturd's Twitter shadowban hours after replying, and the account reported its search ban removed.
- After acquiring Twitter, Musk fired top executives and pledged to investigate shadowbans, ghost bans, and algorithm problems.
- Musk says he wants Twitter to be a digital town square, less restrictive and more welcoming, solving glitches and bot issues.
- Internet safety groups called the takeover dangerous, Stop the Deal Coalition warned of irreparable real world harm, and EU urged legal compliance.
UPDATE: Elon Musk has successfully lifted the shadowban from Catturd’s Twitter account only a few hours after his reply. Catturd posted on their account that their search ban has been removed.
My search ban has been removed – you can now type in my handle and find me again.
— Catturd ™ (@catturd2) October 28, 2022
Background:
Just a few hours after acquiring Twitter, Elon Musk pledged to look into the shadowban and ghost ban issues on the platform.
As his first move after taking control of Twitter, he fired top executives including the former CEO Parag Aggarwal. The Tesla CEO is now taking steps to work on the censorship issues of Twitter.
Elon Musk to help lift a Twitter user’s shadowban
Musk replied to a user’s tweet on Friday, who had complained of being shadowbanned, ghost banned, and search banned. The Twitter account named Catturd with username @catturd2 has over 872k followers and said their follower count has increased after Musk took control. The Tesla CEO responded to the user’s tweet saying he will dig more into the issue.
JUST IN: @elonmusk says he will look into @catturd2 shadow-banning. pic.twitter.com/HhoesbAwx9
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) October 28, 2022
The drop in followers has been a frustrating issue for many who expressed disappointment over the restrictions.
The potential fix to Twitter censorship aligns with Musk’s general vision to create a “digital town square” in the coming years. He shared that he wants the platform to be ‘warm and welcoming to all’. Basically, Musk has plans to make Twitter a less restrictive digital space and to solve any glitches or bots.
Yeah, doesn’t make sense
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 24, 2022
Last week, he tweeted that the Twitter algorithm does not make sense in response to a user’s complaint about the “broken algorithm”.
Musk took control of Twitter in a $44 billion deal
Musk seized control of Twitter in a $44 billion impressive deal, reported The Washington Post. “Let the good times roll,” he tweeted on Friday.
He made visible changes to the company immediately after his acquisition. For starters, Twitter stock halted trading and many top executives were fired.
Many internet rolls have started to spew hate on the website. They even criticized Musk’s effort to make the platform free of censorship.
Thierry Breton, the European Union’s internal market commissioner, reminded Musk to follow the laws. “In Europe, the bird will fly by our rules,” he tweeted, referencing an earlier tweet by Musk in which he said, “the bird is freed.”
Internet safety groups fear Musk’s takeover is ‘dangerous for us all’
Internet safety groups that opposed Musk’s acquisition of Twitter cautioned that the takeover was “dangerous for us all,” and warned other social media platforms against defying safety standards.
Additionally, an international left-leaning activist organization named the “Stop the Deal Coalition,” asserted that Musk’s independent control of Twitter can result in “irreparable real-world harm.”
“Elon Musk’s plans for Twitter will make it an even more hate-filled cesspool,” the coalition stated on Thursday.
