"As someone who has been studying Mr. Trump’s Twitter use since before he was elected president, I believe that his return would mean the heightened spread of both misinformation and disinformation, the proliferation of degrading and dehumanizing discourse, the further mainstreaming of hate speech and the erosion of democratic norms and institutions," Ott wrote. "But there is something else: Mr. Trump’s return to Twitter could escalate the likelihood of political violence."
He continued, "
For Mr. Trump, the desire for revenge has long involved symbolic violence in the form of speech that aggressively demeans and dehumanizes others. Such speech risks sparking material violence," he warned. "For Mr. Trump, the desire for revenge has long involved symbolic violence in the form of speech that aggressively demeans and dehumanizes others. Such speech risks sparking material violence.
NAACP President Derrick Johnson reportedly called upon advertisers to halt their business with Twitter.
"If Elon Musk continues to run Twitter like this, using garbage polls that do not represent the American people and the needs of our democracy, God help us all," Johnson added.
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt reacted to Trump’s reinstatement by suggesting he could become a threat to "democracy" and appeared to theorize about the end of Twitter.
"For @elonmusk to allow Donald Trump back on Twitter, ostensibly after a brief poll, shows he is not remotely serious about safeguarding the platform from hate, harassment and misinformation," he wrote.