Twitter’s far right can thank Elon Musk

Reading time: 5 min

“Come as You are.” This is more or less the message Twitter has been sending in recent days by reinstating many far-right personalities. Banned at the end of 2021, Renaud Camus rejoined the platform on January 25 and he did not hesitate to make up for lost time by compulsively tweeting, sending his old publications in passing. “Charter leaving is a prison closing”so he retweeted, as if testing the platform’s new moderation policy bought by Elon Musk.

The return of the man who put the “great replacement” on the lips of everyone on the far right was immediately welcomed by Gilbert Collard, a time frame of the National Rally before moving to the Reconquest, and by Damien Rieu, former door -word of the Génération identitaire nag -rally with Eric Zemmour.

Twitter didn’t stop there. With a group shot, the platform also ended the suspension of Jean Messiha, who was also banned in 2021. “The bird is free! Jean Messiha is back! Thank you very much Elon Musk!”hastened to comment on former RN and Reconquest support.

The “Alain Soral” Telegram messenger account also claims to have reopened the anti-Semitic essayist’s account. Small subtlety: his account is still not accessible from France (an obstacle that is not too complicated to avoid with a VPN).

Moderation with Musk Sauce

A few weeks after the official purchase of Twitter at the end of October, Elon Musk opened the battle while tweeting: “The people have spoken. The amnesty starts next week. Vox Populi vox dei.” The Tesla boss has a great role and he attributes it to himself. In this announcement, he vows to respect the results of a poll published on his account regarding a “general amnesty” for suspended accounts.

On the far right, the message was received five out of five. Unlike Donald Trump, who has not reinvested in his favorite platform, the anti-Semite and Holocaust denier Hervé Ryssen, who has been convicted many times, did not wait long before tweeting again.

Others, like Pierre-Nicolas Nups, Lorraine leader of the Parti de la France who was convicted of inciting violence and homophobic hatred in 2018, even returned to the platform before the vote. Like Hervé Ryssen, this framework of a movement close to the Reconquest does not hesitate to make excessive use of the “freedom” presented by Elon Musk. Under a tweet explaining that “Hitler’s first love was Jewish”, he answered already“He broke his heart, so he broke his race”. Comments that, six days after being published, are still online.

The resurgence of the most radical parts of the extreme right on Twitter is so predictable… that he saw it coming himself. From the first rumors about the acquisition on Twitter of the boss of Tesla, Mathieu Goyer, a young manager of Civitas Paris, enjoyed predicting the future of the platform happy:”We may see the return to Twitter of the accounts of Donald Trump, Rivarol, Alain Soral, Equality & Reconciliation, Hervé Ryssen, Thaïs d’Escufon… and many others. Taking over Twitter actually heralds big good news.”

It is clear that the prediction turned out to be correct: a large part of these personalities has already found a place in the social network. Elon Musk, far right says thank you.

“A free Twitter at last!”

Elon Musk is shouting by repeating it: his takeover of Twitter will be accompanied by greater freedom of expression. This communication very quickly attracted the French extreme right which, like Mathieu Goyer of Civitas, sees the billionaire as an ally of the event that allows him to hold all kinds of sentences. But what did Tesla’s boss get in this case? The acquisition of Twitter is for the moment not a good financial side. This allows Elon Musk, for the most part, to bolster his image as a libertarian and pocket the most dissident activists in his social network. One way can also try to stimulate it by polarizing it.

However, Elon Musk takes advantage of it, this new policy of moderation not only benefits the French far right, but also the fields where the pandemic is just a conspiracy. Against the health restrictions and a great defender of the “Great Reset”, the ufologist Silvano Trotta also benefited from the “general amnesty”. Away from Twitter, he has successfully built a new community on Telegram messaging. However, he did not shy away from the possibility of finding his 90,000 subscribers on the blue bird social network, tweeted in mid-December:

Not everyone is as happy as Silvano Trotta. Some fail to remember that there is always moderation in the social network, as small as it is. Thomas Joly, president of the Party of France, paid the price in mid-December. “Freedom of expression on Elon Musk’s version of Twitter is very quickly reaching its limits”he raged, on Telegram, after his account was suspended.

Is Donald Trump coming back soon?

Not surprisingly, a similar movement is occurring on the other side of the Atlantic. Banned from Instagram, Twitch, TikTok and YouTube, white nationalist streamer Nick Fuentes, where Hitler is “amazing”, had his Twitter account unblocked on January 24. A “Space” on Twitter and then left: less than twenty-four hours after being granted permission, his account was shut down again following anti-Semitic remarks . Other American extremist figures like Ryan Dawson and Andrew Anglin are, for the moment, always welcome.

Just over a year from the US presidential election, it’s an understatement to say that Donald Trump is eagerly awaited on Twitter. The former president of the United States has made the social network his favorite communication weapon. Taking the platform of Elon Musk and the policy of “general amnesty”, the leader of the alt-right has a right to return. And it might just be a few months.

According to Rolling Stone magazine, the billionaire is expected to expire in June of his exclusive contract with Truth, the social network he created after his eviction. After the disappointment of the midterms for the Republicans, will the recovery of 87 million tweets help Trump regain his place in the White House?