Washington, DC — On Tuesday, Elon Musk said that he would allow Donald Trump to return to Twitter. Muslim Advocates was part of a coalition that called for Trump to be banned from the platform after the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection and is also a member of Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council. 

The following is a statement from Muslim Advocates Senior Policy Counsel Sumayyah Waheed: 

“People died because of Donald Trump’s Twitter account. Trump used that platform to encourage obviously false conspiracies about the election, all to undermine democracy and ensure that he could remain in office. As part of that effort, he encouraged a violent mob to storm the U.S. Capitol, which resulted in multiple deaths. During and after the insurrection, he used his Twitter account to downplay the insurrectionists’ actions. If this does not merit being banned from the platform, then I’m terrified of what else would be allowed under Musk’s watch.

Musk’s incoherent, childish and self-serving views on free speech and partisanship paired with his stated intention to allow Donald Trump back on the platform clearly point to a future for Twitter where the platform openly permits hateful, right-wing, white nationalist conspiracies.

As members of Twitter’s Trust and Safety Council, we at Muslim Advocates have already been raising red flags about the company’s previous and persistent failures to enforce its rules and protect American Muslims and other marginalized communities. What Musk proposes to do with the platform would represent a severe backslide in favor of allowing hate and misinformation that would put our communities in even more danger.”

###

Muslim Advocates is a national civil rights organization working in the courts, in the halls of power and in communities to halt bigotry in its tracks. We ensure that American Muslims have a seat at the table with expert representation so that all Americans may live free from hate and discrimination.