After acquiring Twitter, Tesla founder Elon Musk is expected to make some changes to the site — including allowing previously banned content to be reinstated.
Musk has previously said it was a mistake to ban Donald Trump, and there has been speculation that other high-profile outcasts such as Katie Hopkins may soon return to the site.
The business mogul, a self-described free speech advocate, announced the acquisition by writing “The bird is released,” signaling his view that the site was too restrictive.
Since its inception, Twitter has banned some high-profile accounts for violating its user policies.
Here are ten people who are currently serving lifetime bans, but who can be brought back to the site, which is now owned by Mr Musk.
Donald Trump
One of the most high-profile returnees may be the former US president, who was banned after the 2021 Capitol riots.
Trump claims the US 2020 presidential election is rigged and many of his supporters riot and attack Washington on January 6, 2021.
He has been criticized for failing to tell his supporters to step down.
His last tweet read: “The 75,000,000 great American patriots who voted for me, America First, Make America Great Again, will have a huge voice for a long time to come. They will not be affected in any way. Disrespect or unfair treatment, shaping or form!!!”
Elon Musk has previously said he would rescind Trump’s “stupid” ban. One of the first decisions he made after completing the acquisition of the site was to fire Vijaya Gadde, the head of legal policy, trust and safety, and Trump’s Twitter ban.
However, Mr Trump has previously said he would not return to the site even if given the chance – instead focusing on his own creation, Truth Social.
Katie Hopkins
The right-wing commentator was permanently banned in 2020 for violating the site’s rules on “abuse and hateful conduct.”
HopkinsShe first rose to fame in the third season of The Apprentice, known for her controversial views on the platform, and has been accused of using her account to incite racial hatred.
She criticised Black Lives Matter movement and sparked spat with England football star on Twitter Marcus Rashford About his successful lobbying to extend the free school meals program.
George Zimmerman
The Florida man who shot and killed Black teenager Trayvon Martin in 2012 – and was subsequently acquitted of all criminal charges – had his account suspended in 2015.
He had used the platform to post semi-nude photos of women he identified as ex-girlfriends.
Next to the photo is her name, phone number and email address. He also accused her of cheating on him with “dirty Muslims”.
His account was shut down for his tweets that violated Twitter’s policy against posting personal contact information or intimate photos without consent.
David Ike
Image: Chris Balcomb/Shutterstock
The conspiracy theorist who claimed 5G cell phone networks were linked to the spread of COVID was banned in 2020.
hey-hey believe he is the son of god The world is ruled by reptiles (the royal family is all lizards).
Some of his last posts included attacks on then-prime ministers Boris Johnson and Bill Gates.
The theories are linked to a chain of attacks 5G mast during the epidemic.
Tommy Robinson
The former UK Defence League (EDL) leader was suspended in 2018.
The far-right figures’ profiles are believed to violate the platform’s policy on “hateful conduct” – but it’s unclear what triggered the suspension.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, is widely regarded as anti-Islamic activist And has more than 400,000 fans on the platform.
His supporters gathered around the hashtag #IAmTommy to protest the suspension.
Martin Shkreli
His pharmaceutical company is known to make huge profits by raising the price of a life-saving drug from $13.50 a tablet to $750.
Shkreli, who was CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals (later Vyera), said capitalism was at work, and insurance would ensure those who needed Daraprim got it.
Even Mr Trump was critical of the move, calling him a “spoiled kid”.
Shkreli was eventually banned from the site permanently for the targeted harassment of journalist Lauren Duca. The “Pharma Brothers” serve a sentence Used to deceive hedge fund investors – but released in May of this year.
Milo Yiannopoulos
In 2016, right-wing commentator Milo Yiannopoulos was permanently banned from Twitter after Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones was abused by trolls.
The tech editor of US site Breitbart – self-proclaimed “the internet’s most mythical supervillain” – has been accused of encouraging trolls.
The permanent ban led his fans to tweet the hashtag #freeMilo.
After the ban, Yiannopoulos appeared at a fringe event at the Republican National Convention wearing a bulletproof vest and said, “I just got banned from Twitter.”
Azealia Bank
The singer is known for her offensive tirade on Twitter, including the racist and homophobic abuse of former One Direction member Zayn Malik.
Ultimately, the platform banned her permanently in 2020.
She also made homophobic remarks about Perez Hilton and the LGBT+ rights charity Glaad.
She refused to apologize, writing at one point: “Even if I’m a homophobic…so what? [sic] I still make more money than you. “
Alex Jones
This American conspiracy theorist – Created website Infowars – banned four years ago.
Jones is notorious for claiming that the Sandy Hook school attack, one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, was staged by gun control activists using actors — although he later admitted it was true. He was eventually ordered to pay more than $1 billion in damages.
In 2017, he apologized after promoting a false “Pizzagate” story that claimed a Washington pizza restaurant was owned by Hillary Clinton and her campaign chairman, John Podesta, according to the Washington Post. Home to an operating child sex abuse ring.
Steve Bannon
Donald Trump’s former chief strategist has been banned from Twitter after calling for the beheading of Dr. Anthony Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray.
Bannon made comments calling for medieval violence during a live broadcast of his talk show and podcast “War Room: A Pandemic.”
“I’ll put my head on the spears. Yes. I’ll put them in both corners of the White House. As a warning to federal bureaucrats: take this plan or you’re gone,” he said.