On January 8, 2021, Twitter suspended Donald Trump's account, saying he posed a "risk of further incitement to violence".
The former president had posted a message announcing that he would not go to the inauguration ceremony of Joe Biden, whose election he does not recognize.
On Saturday, Elon Musk, the new boss of Twitter, launched a poll on the reactivation of Donald Trump's account.
51.8% of participants, out of some 15 million votes, responded positively.
A few hours later, the @realDonaldTrump account was revived.
But this decision does not necessarily sign the return of the former tenant of the White House on the social network.
Donald Trump could favor Truth Social, with which he has an exclusive contract.
“The people have spoken.
Trump will be reinstated.
Vox Populi vox dei ".
More than a year and a half after the closure of Donald Trump's Twitter account, the latter was reactivated this weekend.
And it is to Elon Musk that the former American president can say thank you.
The brand new boss of the social network launched a survey on the restoration of his account on Saturday, which garnered more than 51% of favorable votes out of 15 million participants.
If the page of the former tenant of the White House was put back into service in the process, this decision does not necessarily sign his return to the firm with the blue bird.
Reinstate form President Trump
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 19, 2022
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Back a few months earlier.
We are on January 8, 2021. The American Congress has just validated the election of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States a few days before.
In the hours that followed, supporters of Donald Trump invaded the Capitol.
The former American president, who does not recognize his defeat, announces in a message on Twitter that he will not go to his competitor's inauguration on January 20.
Faced with the "risk of further incitement to violence", Twitter takes the unprecedented decision to close its account permanently.
To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 8, 2021
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An exclusive contract with Truth Social
Two days after the reinstatement of the @realDonaldTrump account, attributed to the "45th President of the United States of America", the former head of state has not resumed his usual frantic tweets.
No new message has been posted since Saturday, the last posted remaining that of January 8, 2021. And the former president does not really seem determined to resume his old habits.
“I see no reason to do so,” he replied on Saturday, when asked about his return to Twitter during a videoconference at a Republican rally in Las Vegas (Nevada).
If Donald Trump remains silent, it may be because he now uses his own social network, Truth Social.
The platform was launched last February after he was ousted from Twitter and had his Facebook accounts suspended for two years.
On Saturday, when the results of Elon Musk's poll were already swinging in his favor, he posted a message on his platform, presented as a “conservative or republican alternative to Twitter”: “We are not going anywhere.
Truth Social is special,” he wrote to his followers.
But with 4.48 million subscribers on Truth Social - against 87 million on Twitter - his "alternative" is far from offering him the same visibility.
However, the man has already entered the campaign for the American presidential election of 2024. So why is Donald Trump not making a comeback?
According to The
New York Times
, the former president holds an exclusive contract with Truth Social.
He must make his messages available exclusively on this social network for six hours, before being able to share them on other sites.
A truly certified account?
Beyond the return of Donald Trump, it is the very authenticity of his account that is called into question.
If the famous blue dot, supposed to guarantee that it has been verified, has reappeared next to his name, it is impossible to really know that this is his real account.
Since its takeover by Elon Musk, Twitter has faced numerous impersonation and account moderation issues.
At the beginning of November, the new CEO launched “Twitter Blue”, a new eight-dollar-a-month subscription allowing users to certify their account, regardless of their notoriety.
But the offer quickly created discord and led to the creation of thousands of fake accounts.
Among these impersonations are personalities like Georges W. Bush, Joe Biden, LeBron James or even Elon Musk himself.
Especially since the social network no longer has a communication service, Elon Musk having laid off half of the workforce of the Californian firm.
On Sunday, the number of subscribers to Donald Trump's account rose sharply to reach 83 million around 3:30 p.m. GMT, according to AFP, but it is impossible to know how many are humans and how many are "bots", automated accounts. .
In addition, the account attributed to the former president now links to a site offering to contribute financially to the campaign just launched by Donald Trump for 2024. Again, it is difficult to know how this link was set up, and by whom. .
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