Elon Musk is drawing the line about one person he doesn't want to allow back on Twitter.
Although the platform's new owner recently reinstated several far-right accounts, he made it clear over the weekend that he will not be awarding that same luxury to conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
On Friday, Musk tweeted, "What should Twitter do next?" to which one user replied, "Bring back Alex Jones!!!!" Musk then wrote back a simple "No," and later explained his decision in a series of separate tweets.
"Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven," Musk tweeted on Sunday, citing scripture to reinforce his stance against Jones, who has been ordered to pay nearly $1 billion to Sandy Hook families for falsely claiming that the 2012 school shooting was a hoax.
In response to another user who urged Musk to "Please reconsider in the interest of real free speech," Musk said, "My firstborn child died in my arms. I felt his last heartbeat. I have no mercy for anyone who would use the deaths of children for gain, politics or fame."
Jones also criticized Musk's latest move in a video posted to the conservative outlet Rumble, saying, "Now, do I blame Elon Musk for this? No, ladies and gentlemen. And quite frankly, I don't care if I get brought back to Twitter." Jones and his InfoWars website were permanently suspended from the platform in 2018 due to abusive behavior.
He continued, "I care about any of these big tech platforms going back to free speech and back to where the Internet was four years ago, before this reign of surveillance and censorship. Because this isn't just censorship. They're surveilling everything you say in live time, not just on Twitter, but Google, Facebook, all of it in live time."
"This is criminal," Jones added.
While Musk refused to revive Jones' Twitter account, the so-called "free speech absolutist" had restored Donald Trump's account on Saturday, shortly after the former president announced his 2024 campaign on Tuesday. Trump's return was prompted after Musk posted a Twitter poll on Friday night asking users if Trump should be reinstated. Approximately 52% of more than 15 million total voters voted yes.
"The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated," Musk tweeted Saturday night.
Trump, who had over 88 million followers on Twitter, was permanently suspended on Jan. 8, 2021, just two days after the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. During his tumultuous presidency, Trump frequently used Twitter to spew propaganda and hateful rhetoric. But now, the ex-president says he doesn't "see any reason for it" and will instead use his new platform Truth Social, which he claimed had better user engagement than Twitter and was doing "phenomenally well."
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In addition to Trump, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene's (R-Ga.) personal Twitter account was restored on Monday, after she was permanently suspended in July 2021 for spreading COVID misinformation.
"I'm the only Member of Congress the unelected big tech oligarchs permanently banned. On January 2, 2022, they violated my freedom of speech and ability to campaign & fundraise crying "covid misinformation,'" Greene tweeted from her congressional account.
"My account is back. Go follow @mtgreenee for MTG unfiltered ;)" she added.
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