“It’s a huge relief that Elon Musk is standing up for free speech and removing censorship,” Anil Murty, co-founder of SIFF, told BuzzFeed News. (He declined to provide evidence that the group’s tweets were banned before Musk bought Twitter.)
Musk, who has laid off more than 70% of the company’s employees (including content moderators) since taking over, became a right-wing darling 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 has also banned people who criticize him, including journalists, some of which They still remain blocked.
Murty said he is “grateful” for Musk’s “small contribution” to SIFF’s cause. Thanks to Musk’s review 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.”
