Musk reinstates Trump’s Twitter account
Trump announced the move through a message on Twitter in the wee hours of Monday morning – an hour of which was spent posting his own personal “tweet.” The president’s “Twitter” went viral with his tweet, as millions of people took to social media to praise him for his unconventional use of the platform.
The president said an “important announcement” will be made in the morning. He did not share any details, other than to say the ban on “political ads” was being lifted. But he did retweet a message from his wife, who tweeted that she and the president had been “proud to walk together with our First Lady in support of President’s agenda.”
The statement to reporters also said, “No longer will political ads be able to cause any confusion, especially when it comes to the Second Amendment to the Constitution.”
“The media will be able to do what it does best, which is to expose the untruths and misrepresentations promoted by the other side in full view of the public,” Trump said.
We’ll have to see if it leads to more ads and political messaging on Twitter, though the move is likely to make it more difficult for people to find relevant information on the platform.
The announcement of the ban comes as the Republican National Committee announced that it would join forces with Facebook and Instagram to crack down on “inauthentic and deceptive political content through the new Facebook- Instagram partnership,” the statement said.
The news followed reports Monday that the RNC was considering using social media and digital advertising to boost Republicans in the midterm elections as a means of boosting turnout.
The RNC, like Facebook, said it was “working on policies to promote candidates that represent the best values of our party.”
It also said it was “committed to combating misleading and deceptive political ads in a fair and transparent way.”
But if the move is successful, will it also help Trump’s cause?
In theory, removing the ban will allow campaign ads to be run on the social media platforms more widely.
But this is a huge loss for Facebook and Twitter, as a handful of Republican congressional candidates could use the platforms to drive more traffic to their social accounts.
It’s also a blow to the Republican Party – it’s