After Elon Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion, former President Donald Trump says he will not return to the social media platform if his account is reactivated.
RELATED STORIES: Elon Musk Offers To Buy Twitter For $43B In Cash
Trump officially releases statement after Elon Musk wins $44 billion bid for Twitter
In a statement provided to Fox News, Trump said he will not return to Twitter if his account is restored and plans to officially join his own social media platform, Truth Social. “I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on Truth, I hope Elon buys Twitter because he’ll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on Truth. The bottom line is, no, I am not going back to Twitter,” his statement reads. Last year, Twitter permanently banned Trump’s account after citing concerns about his influence surrounding the Jan. 6 insurrection of the Capitol building.
Truth Social was originally scheduled to be released in February of this year but the app for iOS was temporarily unavailable for unknown reasons as reported by Tech Crunch.
RELATED STORIES: Elon Musk Buys 9.2% ($3B Worth) Of Twitter After Slamming Them Over Free Speech Approach
The shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp. fell 9.5 percent after Musk’s announcement. Back in October, the company announced it made a deal to acquire Trump Media & Technology Group after he announced his new social media platform. Before his permanent ban from Twitter, Trump also wrote the following criticism about the platform’s free speech policies: “We will not be SILENCED! Twitter is not about FREE SPEECH,”
Elon Musk’s views on Twitter’s free speech policies and principles
Elon Musk previously bought $3 billion worth of Twitter shares after he criticized the platform over its free speech policies. He posted a poll asking his followers if Twitter actively follows the principles of free speech, “Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?
“Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy. What should be done?”
Musk’s purchase of the social media platform was immediately approved by its board members earlier today and it is expected to close after it is approved by shareholders and regulatory approval. The Telsa CEO and billionaire also plan to get rid of spambots and revive the platform’s algorithm.
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated. I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”