Is Musk Veering Off Course? Conservatives Stunned Over Who He's Engaging With About Twitter Policies

Twitter Chief Elon Musk said Tuesday he spoke with several civil society leaders from the Anti-Defamation League, The Asian American Foundation, the NAACP, and more, about how the social media giant will enforce its election integrity policies ahead of the midterms, noting the company will continue combatting "hate & harassment."

Musk also said he's exploring a process for allowing users who have been de-platformed back on, though acknowledged it will not happen prior to Nov. 8.

"Twitter will not allow anyone who was de-platformed for violating Twitter rules back on the platform until we have a clear process for doing so, which will take at least a few more weeks," he said in a thread. "Twitter's content moderation council will include representatives with widely divergent views, which will certainly include the civil rights community and groups who face hate-fueled violence."

Talked to civil society leaders @JGreenblattADL, @YaelEisenstat, @rashadrobinson, @JGo4Justice, @normanlschen, @DerrickNAACP, @TheBushCenter Ken Hersch & @SindyBenavides about how Twitter will continue to combat hate & harassment & enforce its election integrity policies
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2022

Twitter's content moderation council will include representatives with widely divergent views, which will certainly include the civil rights community and groups who face hate-fueled violence
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 2, 2022

Musks' comments came in response to Yoel Roth, head of safety and integrity at Twitter, who stated the company is "staying vigilant against attempts to manipulate conversations about the 2022 US midterms." Roth shared a report from the Election Integrity Partnership, an allegedly non-partisan coalition that tracks and combats misinformation on social media. That write-up detailed why Twitter suspended six pro-Republican and pro-Democratic networks that appeared to be operating within the U.S. but were likely based in China and Iran. All allegedly sought to influence the midterm elections.

Conservatives, however, were quick to remind Musk that the people still in charge at Twitter do not appear to be as committed to objectivity as he is, nor are the "civil society leaders" he is engaging with.