Former US president Donald Trump is free to tweet on Twitter again after Elon Musk reinstated his account following a 24-hour poll on the social media platform. Trump was permanently suspended on Twitter in 2021 “due to the risk of further incitement of violence” following the US Capitol riots.

Trump’s reinstatement on Twitter comes after the former president officially declared he will run for the US presidential sit again in 2024. Before completing Twitter’s takeover, Musk had given a hint in May that he would reverse the permanent ban, referring to himself as a “free speech absolutist.”

On Saturday, Musk tweeted the poll on his account with the options “Yes” or “No”, asking to “Reinstate former President Trump.” The final polling result shows more than 15 million users voted, with 51.8% voting in favour of “Yes” while the remaining 48.2% voted for “No”. According to Musk, more than 134 million people saw the poll. Trump is not the only account Musk has reinstated so far. On Friday, the Twitter owner reinstated comedian Kathie Griffin, author Jordan Peterson and parody account The Babylon Bee.

It is still up to Trump to return and use his Twitter account, which is an important tool to drive his 2024 presidential campaign. On Saturday, the former president said he will remain on his own Truth social media platform and that he sees “a lot of problems at Twitter.” In a meeting with Republican Jewish Coalition via a video link, Trump said, “I hear we’re getting a big vote to also go back on Twitter. I don’t see it because I don’t see any reason for it. It may make it; it may not make it.”

After taking over Twitter, Musk tweeted in October that “Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints. No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.” It is not known if the council had an influence over Trump and other accounts reinstated so far.

Photo by Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg