Banned Twitter users celebrate Elon Musk’s takeover of the website
Written by Justin Horowitz
Research contributions from Sophie Lawton & Alex Kaplan
Published
Tesla CEO Elon Musk will soon acquire Twitter for $44 billion. Right-wing media, influencers, and politicians are celebrating Musk’s purported “free speech” approach to the website, assuming that banned users will be allowed back on the platform.
Here are some examples of banned Twitter users celebrating or showing appreciation for Musk’s buyout:
- Former Trump aide Steve Bannon (The Populist Press newsletter is connected to Bannon’s War Room: Pandemic podcast.)
![Populist Press Musk](https://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/styles/scale_w1024/s3/static/D8Image/2022/04/25/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-25%20at%209.46.21%20AM.png?itok=HHw9B6bA)
![Bannon Musk twitter buy](https://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/styles/scale_w1024/s3/static/D8Image/2022/04/25/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-25%20at%203.01.19%20PM.png?itok=VE6R8zZd)
- Rep. Marjorie Tayor Greene (R-GA); (Greene’s personal Twitter account was banned. The account connected to her official office position is still active.)
![MTG Twitter buy](https://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/styles/scale_w1024/s3/static/D8Image/2022/04/25/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-25%20at%202.43.29%20PM.png?itok=-TkKzVVP)
- “Stop The Steal” organizer Ali Alexander
![Ali Alexander Twitter Buy](https://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/styles/scale_w1024/s3/static/D8Image/2022/04/25/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-25%20at%202.40.58%20PM.png?itok=Q4T6TmE9)
- White nationalist political commentator Nick Fuentes
![Nick F Elon Twitter buy](https://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/styles/scale_w1024/s3/static/D8Image/2022/04/25/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-25%20at%202.36.30%20PM.png?itok=wB38Dhn5)
- White nationalist and Holocaust denier Vincent James Foxx
![Foxx twitter buy 2](https://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/styles/scale_w1024/s3/static/D8Image/2022/04/25/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-25%20at%203.12.30%20PM.png?itok=pRPiV99p)
![Vincent James](https://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/styles/scale_w1024/s3/static/D8Image/2022/04/25/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-25%20at%202.37.57%20PM.png?itok=nrVvOdEm)
- Anti-Muslim Florida congressional candidate and political commentator Laura Loomer
![Laura Loomer Musk Twitter](https://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/styles/scale_w1024/s3/static/D8Image/2022/04/25/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-25%20at%202.39.57%20PM.png?itok=bwFFddTW)
![infowars twitter buy](https://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/styles/scale_w1024/s3/static/D8Image/2022/04/25/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-25%20at%203.03.47%20PM.png?itok=Vy-EX-q2)
- QAnon figure Ron Watkins
![Ron Watkins Twitter buy](https://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/styles/scale_w1024/s3/static/D8Image/2022/04/25/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-25%20at%202.46.24%20PM.png?itok=YAiXLP1B)
- QAnon influencer Major Patriot
![Major Patriot Twitter buy](https://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/styles/scale_w1024/s3/static/D8Image/2022/04/25/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-25%20at%202.48.28%20PM.png?itok=Fko6FjnG)
- Pro-Trump pundit and QAnon enthusiast Bill Mitchell
![Bill Mitchell Twitter buy](https://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/styles/scale_w1024/s3/static/D8Image/2022/04/25/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-25%20at%202.52.32%20PM.png?itok=JGoE15XE)
- QAnon influencer Jordan Sather
![Jordan Sather Twitter Buy](https://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/styles/scale_w1024/s3/static/D8Image/2022/04/25/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-25%20at%202.54.18%20PM.png?itok=-c9PJuos)
- QAnon influencer IET
![IET Twitter buy](https://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/styles/scale_w1024/s3/static/D8Image/2022/04/25/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-25%20at%202.57.05%20PM.png?itok=bXd0NWGx)
- QAnon influencer Qtah
![Qtah Twitter buy](https://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/styles/scale_w1024/s3/static/D8Image/2022/04/25/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-25%20at%202.58.58%20PM.png?itok=G6BZgwgK)
- QAnon influencer intheMatrixxx
![Matrixxx twitter buy](https://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/styles/scale_w1024/s3/static/D8Image/2022/04/25/Screen%20Shot%202022-04-25%20at%203.08.35%20PM.png?itok=m2QWBPee)
- Clandestine, a QAnon figure who used Twitter to cause a false conspiracy theory about Ukrainian biolabs to gain traction online
![WarClandestine Elon Musk](https://cloudfront.mediamatters.org/styles/scale_w1024/s3/static/D8Image/2022/04/25/2022-04-25_16-50-02.png?itok=vU2tYPoF)