The Twitter CEO, Elon Musk, told his employees over a Zoom call that he had the ultimate power and final say over what went on at the social media giant. “[There is something] I want to be clear about… we are going to do a content council, but it’s an advisory council,” Musk told employees.
Elon Musk has countered speculation that he would immediately reinstate all permanently banned accounts, such as that of former President Donald Trump, and make sweeping changes to Twitter’s content policy now that it is firmly under his control.
In a tweet shared on Friday, Musk said Twitter will form a content moderation council with “very diverse views” before making policy changes. “No major content decisions or account resets will be made before that council meets,” Musk wrote. He did not share additional details about who would be on the council or when the council was expected to meet.
“They’re not the ones who actually… at the end of the day, it will be me deciding it, and any pretense to the contrary is simply not true,” he continued. “I can choose who’s on that content council, and I don’t need to listen to what they say.” Earlier, Musk said he would not make major decisions about the content or restoring banned accounts before setting up a council with diverse viewpoints.
Twitter’s first couple of weeks under Musk’s ownership have been nothing short of tumultuous. They started with Musk unceremoniously firing much of the C-suite and laying off roughly half of Twitter’s global workforce. He revamped Twitter Blue to automatically give paid subscribers a blue verification check mark, which quickly led to impersonation running rampant on the social network.
Executives continue to resign, including the head of trust and safety, whom Musk elevated after he took over. A lawyer at the company has told employees to seek whistleblower protection “if you feel uncomfortable about anything you’re being asked to do.” Meanwhile, Musk has tried to convince Twitter’s advertisers to return amid the chaos to no avail, even as the company’s user growth sees “all-time highs,” according to him.