If Twitter feels like a trash can fire right now, wait. CEO Elon Musk announced a blanket pardon for nearly all suspended accounts next week, allowing countless banned users to return to the maligned platform. Unsurprisingly, he abdicated the final decision to a Twitter poll.
In a tweet posted on Wednesday, Musk asked the general public, “Should Twitter offer blanket amnesty to suspended accounts, provided they haven’t broken the law or engaged in egregious spamming?”
Previously, Twitter users could be banned for various transgressions such as abuse and harassment, posting bloody or sexual violence, promoting self-harm, threatening violence or harassing others because of their race or gender. Accounts spreading mass shooter manifestos or other similar content created by violent offenders have also been suspended.
Now, that could all come back to Twitter in days, after 72.4% of Musk’s 3.1 million poll respondents agreed to let currently suspended accounts back.
“The people have spoken” Musk tweeted after the poll result was revealed on Thursday. “Amnesty starts next week. Vox Populi, Vox Dei.”
The Latin phrase “Vox Populi, Vox Dei” translates to “the voice of the people [is] the voice of God,” and seems to be becoming a watchword for Musk. The billionaire also used the phrase when announcing his decision to reinstate fellow billionaire Donald Trump’s Twitter account, which was also determined by a Twitter poll.
Interestingly, one of the earliest uses of the phrase dates back to medieval scholar Alcuin of York, and means the complete opposite of what Musk used to say. The full quote reads: “Nec audiendi qui solent dicere, Vox populi, vox Dei, quum tumultuositas vulgi semper insaniae proxima sit.”
Translated, it means: “And one must not listen to those people who continue to say that the voice of the people is the voice of God, because the rioting of the mob is always very close to madness.”
The tweet may have been deleted
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It’s unclear exactly how Twitter’s amnesty will be implemented, as the clearest messages about the change to date have been Musk’s few tweets. The only exemptions the CEO has outlined for this mass forgiveness are for spam and breaking the law, which leaves plenty of room for a lot of unsavory behavior.
This also means that Twitter accounts that have been suspended for impersonation may be allowed to return. Spoofing has recently become a significant issue for Twitter, after Musk made verification badges available for purchase without requiring any actual identity verification. This led to a deluge of users pretending to be various high profile personalities, which in turn led to absolute chaos. Twitter has since suspended issuing verification badges indefinitely.
Mashable reached out to Twitter for clarification and comment, where our investigation will no doubt join a mountain of unread emails clogging unattended inboxes. Twitter has cut more than half of its employees since Musk took over the company late last month, including people who typically field press inquiries.
