Here’s what Elon Musk has said about his plans for Twitter

He wants the social media site to be “politically neutral.”

He said he would reverse ban on former president Donald Trump

Musk said he would reverse Twitter’s ban on Trump during a live interview Tuesday at a Future of the Car event hosted by the Financial Times.

“I think it was a morally bad decision, to be clear, and foolish in the extreme,” he said.

Trump’s account was permanently banned in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

Many Republican politicians and right-wing pundits cheered Musk’s plan to buy Twitter, saying that he could relieve what they view as “censorship” on the site.

Musk earlier denied that he has talked to Trump, tweeting in response to a media report that he has had “no communication, directly or indirectly, with Trump, who has publicly stated that he will be exclusively on Truth Social.”

Trump has said that he won’t rejoin the site even if he was allowed, though some of his advisers say he wouldn’t be able to stay away.

Trump owns a Twitter clone, called Truth Social, that has been floundering in its early months. (Musk suggested in a tweet that the former president should have named his social network “Trumpet.”)

Trump says he won’t rejoin Twitter. Some advisers don’t believe him.

Musk believes Twitter should be “politically neutral”

Musk tweeted Monday that “Twitter obv has a strong left wing bias.”

But Musk has also said that “the right will probably be a little unhappy too.”

Why Elon Musk is so polarizing

“A social media platform’s policies are good if the most extreme 10% on left and right are equally unhappy,” he tweeted the week before Twitter agreed to his purchase offer.

Critics of Musk’s plan to buy Twitter have expressed concern that the billionaire would allow extremist views to remain on the site, including accounts that violate existing rules.

In response to former Twitter CEO Dick Costolo’s post, Musk responded that he was “just saying Twitter needs to be politically neutral.”

Musk wants to stick to the law

Musk has said many times that he wants Twitter to do a better job promoting free speech. To him, that seems to mean allowing speech that is legal in the specific geographies where Twitter operates.

“Like I said, my preference is to hew close to the laws of countries in which Twitter operates,” he tweeted Monday. “If the citizens want something banned, then pass a law to do so, otherwise it should be allowed.”

Tech executives and Silicon Valley insiders have expressed skepticism about Musk’s plans for a largely unpoliced space rid of censorship, saying it is naive and could make the site unsafe.

Musk appeared in a video with EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton addressing the new Digital Services Act, which would require the world’s largest tech companies to more aggressively police their platforms for illegal content.

Musk said the law was aligned with his thinking.

“I agree with everything you said, really,” Musk said to Breton in the video. “I think we’re very much of the same mind.”

Elon Musk wants a free speech utopia. Technologists clap back.

Musk wants Twitter to be less “niche”

At the Met Gala, which Musk attended with his mom, the entrepreneur said the social media site is “sort of niche,” according to Reuters. He wants to get more people on board.

“My goal, assuming everything gets done, would be to make Twitter as inclusive as possible and to have as broad a swath of the country and the rest of the world on Twitter and that they find it interesting and entertaining and funny and that it makes their life better,” he told an interviewer.

That seems to fit with his idea, shared just days after the deal was announced, that Twitter should be enjoyable. “Let’s make Twitter maximum fun!” he posted.

Twitter’s workplace could look different

Not everyone is convinced a Musk-owned Twitter will be fun. Some company employees have expressed concerns that Musk would meaningfully change the company culture, and could loosen content moderation, meant to promote safety online, that the company has worked hard on for years.

Concern about workers quitting grew over the past couple weeks, especially when the company’s top lawyer faced online attacks after Musk tweeted a meme with a photo of her that cast her as an icon of “Twitter’s left wing bias.”

At the Met Gala, Musk said “it’s a free country,” according to Reuters.

“Certainly if anyone doesn’t feel comfortable with that, they will on their own accord go somewhere else,” he told the publication.

Other companies owned by Musk are known for workplaces with long hours and high expectations. Musk, who hasn’t said if he plans to serve as an executive at Twitter, tweeted that “work ethic expectations would be extreme, but much less than I demand of myself.”

Musk also talked with bankers about potential job cuts at the company. He tweeted last week that if his deal closes, Twitter would “be super focused on hardcore software engineering, design, infosec & server hardware.”

Twitter’s top lawyer long weighed safety and free speech. Then Elon Musk called her out.

Some accounts might need to pay up

Musk has shared a few details of features he might tweak on Twitter, including expressing support for an edit button. He also tweeted that Twitter will stay free for most users, but there might someday be “a slight cost for commercial/government users.”

Twitter is used by many politicians, companies, government agencies and other officials to share updates in real-time.

Elon Musk has big ideas for Twitter. Users should buckle up.

Musk has also said that he wants to make the company’s algorithm, or its computer code, public to promote transparency. That’s easier said than done, experts say.

He called on Twitter direct messages, which are private, to be end-to-end encrypted so they are more secure and “so no one can spy on or hack your messages.”