SAN FRANCISCO: Elon Musk expressed excitement Saturday as he watched votes pour in on a Twitter poll he has posted on whether to readmit Donald Trump to the messaging platform.
“Reinstate former President Trump,” the billionaire Twitter owner posted Friday, with a chance to vote either yes or no.
As of 2200 GMT Saturday, 51.8 percent of the more than 14 million responses were in favor of a return of the former president, who was banned from Twitter for his role in last year’s attack on the US Capitol by a mob of his followers seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election.
Musk said the poll was drawing one million answers per hour.
“Fascinating to watch Twitter Trump poll!” Musk said Saturday morning in a blast of tweets from the controversial and hard-charging new owner of the one-to-many messaging platform.
There was no indication that the mercurial boss of Space-X and Tesla would adhere to the results of the ad hoc poll.
But on Friday, Musk also posted a Latin adage suggesting that the decision would be up to Twitter users: “Vox Populi, Vox Dei” (“The voice of the people is the voice of God“).
He has done similar polls in the past, asking followers last year if he should sell stock in his electric car company Tesla. Following that poll, he sold more than $1 billion in shares.
Trump, who reveled in using Twitter as a mouthpiece, was followed by more than 88 million users.
He has said he will not return to the popular platform but would instead remain on his own network, Truth Social, launched after he was banned from Twitter.
Appearing via video Saturday at a gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas, Trump said he welcomed Musk’s poll, and was a fan of the man himself, but appeared to reject any return.
“I do like him... you know, he’s a character and again, I like characters,” he said.
“He did put up a poll and it was very overwhelming... but I have something called... Truth Social.”
As to whether he would return to the platform, he said: “I don’t see it because I don’t see any reason for it.”
Musk, also the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has come under fire for radical changes at California-based Twitter, which he bought less than a month ago for $44 billion.
Since then, he fired half of Twitter’s 7,500 staff, scrapped a work-from-home policy and imposed long hours, all while his attempts to overhaul the company faced backlash and delays.
His stumbling attempts to revamp user verification with a controversial subscription service led to a slew of fake accounts and pranks, and prompted major advertisers to step away from the platform.
On Friday, Musk appeared to be pressing on with his plans and reinstated previously banned accounts, including that of comedian Kathy Griffin, which had been taken down after she impersonated him on the site.
The company’s offices were locked down Friday and hundreds of employees quit rather than yield to Musk’s demands that they resign themselves to working long, grueling days at the new Twitter.
Elon Musk gleeful as Twitter users vote on reinstating Trump
https://arab.news/ggwq5
Elon Musk gleeful as Twitter users vote on reinstating Trump
- Trump had been banned from Twitter for his role in last year’s attack on the US Capitol by his followers seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election
Saudi Media Forum urges ethical coverage as crises redefine Arab journalism
- Raw news without context can mislead audiences and distort credibility, experts say
RIYADH: Arab media was born in crisis and shaped by conflict rather than stability, Malik Al-Rougi, general manager of Thaqafeyah Channel, said during the Saudi Media Forum in Riyadh on Wednesday.
Al-Rougi was speaking during a panel titled “Media and Crises: The Battle for Awareness and the Challenges of Responsible Coverage,” which examined how news organizations across the region navigated credibility and professional standards amid fast-moving regional developments.
“Today, when you build a media organization and invest in it for many years, a single crisis can destroy it,” he said.
Referring to recent events, Al-Rougi said that he had witnessed news channels whose credibility “collapsed overnight.”
“In journalistic and political terms, this is not a process of news production. It is a process of propaganda production,” he said. “The damage caused by such a post … is enormous for an institution in which millions, perhaps billions, have been invested.”
When a media outlet shifts from professionalism and credibility toward “propaganda,” he added, it moves away from its core role.
“A crisis can work for you or against you,” Al-Rougi added. “When, in the heart of a crisis, you demonstrate high credibility and composure, you move light-years ahead. When you fail to adhere to ethical standards, you lose light-years as well.”
Abdullah Al-Assaf, professor of political media studies at Imam Muhammad bin Saud Islamic University, said that in many crises across the Arab world, agendas and directives had often prevailed over professionalism.
“Credibility was buried,” he added.
Hasan Al-Mustafa, writer and researcher at Al-Arabiya channel, said that raw information could be subject to multiple interpretations if not placed within a proper political, security, historical or geographical context.
He added that such an approach was urgently needed during periods of political and security volatility in the Middle East.
When, in the heart of a crisis, you demonstrate high credibility and composure, you move light-years ahead. When you fail to adhere to ethical standards, you lose light-years as well.
Malik Al-Rougi Thaqafeyah, Channel general manager
“This objectivity, or this reliability, is a great responsibility,” Al-Mustafa said. “It is reflected not only in its impact on the audience, but also on the credibility of the content creator.”
Al-Mustafa warned against populism and haste in coverage, saying that they risked deepening crises rather than providing informed public perspectives.
He also said that competition with social media influencers had pushed some traditional outlets to imitate influencer-driven models instead of strengthening their own professional standards.
“Our media has been crisis-driven for decades,” he said, describing much of the region’s coverage as reactive rather than proactive.
During a separate panel titled “The Official Voice in the Digital Age: Strategies of Influence,” speakers discussed how rapid technological and social changes were reshaping the role of institutional spokespersons.
Abdulrahman Alhusain, official spokesperson of the Saudi Ministry of Commerce, said that the role was no longer limited to delivering statements or reacting to events.
“Today, the spokesperson must be the director of the scene — the director of the media narrative,” he said.
Audiences, he added, no longer accept isolated pieces of information unless they were presented within a clear narrative and structure.
“In the past, a spokesperson was expected to deliver formal presentations. Today, what is required is dialogue. The role may once required defense, but now it must involve discussion, the exchange of views, and open, candid conversation aimed at development — regardless of how harsh the criticism may be.”
He said that spokespersons must also be guided by data, digital indicators and artificial intelligence to understand public opinion before speaking.
“You must choose the right timing, the right method and the right vocabulary. You must anticipate a crisis before it happens. That is your role.”
Abdullah Aloraij, general manager of media at the Riyadh Region Municipality, said that the most important skill for a spokesperson today was the ability to analyze and monitor public discourse.
“The challenge is not in transferring words, but in transferring understanding and impact in the right way,” he said.
