Elon Musk says he won’t decide if Twitter accounts are reinstated as Kanye and Trump remain locked out

Elon Musk says a new “content moderation council” will be responsible for the reinstatement of banned accounts on Twitter, suggesting there will be no immediate return for Donald Trump and Kanye West.

“Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints,” the new owner announced in a tweet on Friday afternoon.

“No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.”

Prior to his $44bn acquisition of Twitter, Musk had called the decision to permanently ban Mr Trump from the platform a “mistake” and promised to reinstate his account.

The self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” had also pledged to loosen rules governing content moderation on the site.

It’s unclear who will be on the council, or when it will convene.

Musk had also previously signalled he would allow his friend Kanye West back onto the platform, after he was banned for making antisemitic threats.

Twitter has not commented on the status of West‘s account amid unverified reports that he’d regained access after weeks of being locked out earlier this month.

On Friday, The Wall Street Journal reported that major advertisers have threatened to pull their ad buys if Trump is let back on the platform.

Musk fired three top executives as one of his first acts after completing the$44bn takeover on Thursday.

He has said he won’t allow it to become a “free-for-all hellscape” in an attempt to calm advertiser’s concerns.

Musk is expected to reveal more details about his plans for the social media company when he addresses Twitter staff at the company’s social media headquarters later on Friday.

Twitter reacted to Musk’s announcement with a mixture of humour and trepidation.

One user suggested the council would be made up of characters performed by Musk on his Saturday Night Live hosting debut in May last year.

Others posted memes from Star Wars, and volunteered their services for a seat at the decision-making table.

Others were not so amused.

Adrian Hilton wrote: “Why does this fill me with a sense of foreboding? Who appoints the members of this content moderation council? Which council will hear the appeals to its judgments? What qualifies this content moderation council to judge orthodoxy and acceptability?

Another user O’Keefe, wrote: “‘Content moderation council’ doesn't sound creepy and dystopian at all Elon.”