“It’s a huge relief that Elon Musk is standing up for free speech and ending censorship,” Anil Murty, co-founder of SIFF, told BuzzFeed News. (He refused to provide evidence that the group’s tweets were banned before Musk bought Twitter.)
Musk, who has fired more than 70% of company employees (including content moderators) since taking over, he has become a dear right winger for reinstating more than 15,000 accounts, including those of Donald Trump and far-right voices like Steve Bannon and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell. But he also banned people who criticize him, including journalists, from some of which they are still locked.
Murty said he is “grateful” for Musk’s “small contribution” to the SIFF cause. Thanks to Musk’s revision of Twitter’s verification policy, Murty was finally able to pay to verify the SIFF account, he said. “Before, verification was discriminatory,” Murty said. “Now it’s fairer.”
