It has been 658 days since Donald Trump last had the power of Twitter to galvanise his millions of followers.
Permanently banned following the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol “due to the risk of further incitement of violence”, the former president has since started his own social media platform called Truth Social.
Elon Musk's $44 billion Twitter takeover has opened the door for a revocation of the ban, and many see Mr Trump's return to the platform as a matter of when, not if.
In May, Mr Musk told a Financial Times forum that removing Mr Trump from the platform “was a morally bad decision, to be clear, and foolish in the extreme”.
Mr Musk has already fired several high-ranking executives, including former chief executive Parag Agrawal.
The world’s richest person also fired the executive responsible for Mr Trump's ban, sparking speculation that the president's return from exile could be imminent.
But Mr Trump is financially invested in his Truth Social platform and has not said if he will return to Twitter, assuming the ban is lifted.
On Friday, he posted a message on the site saying he was happy Twitter was “now in sane hands, and will no longer be run by the Radical Left Lunatics and Maniacs that truly hate our country”.
In April, Mr Trump told Fox News that he hoped Mr Musk would buy the company but that it would not convince him to rejoin.
“I am not going on Twitter. I am going to stay on Truth,” he said.
But staying away from Twitter, where his @realDonaldTrump account had more than 88 million followers, may be impossible to resist for the man widely expected to run for president again in 2024.
He only has 4.37 million followers on Truth Social.
Mr Trump is not the only high-profile person who has been banned from the platform.
Allies Steve Bannon and Roger Stone have also been barred from tweeting. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a congresswoman who has staunchly backed Mr Trump in the past, was permanently banned for spreading misinformation regarding Covid-19.
Rapper Kanye West, who's recent anti-Semitic tirades have led to him losing major business deals with Gap and adidas, has been temporarily suspended, though many are calling for a permanent ban.
Mr Musk has long said he wants Twitter to be a bastion of “free speech” but has also promised advertisers it will not become a “free-for-all hellscape”.
He said on Thursday that increasing polarisation stoked by traditional media had damaged the “opportunity for dialogue” on the platform.
“That is why I bought Twitter. I didn't do it because it would be easy. I didn't do it to make more money. I did it to try to help humanity, whom I love.”
But social media watchdogs are concerned that Twitter could become a "cauldron of extremism".
"Letting all these people back on would be the most visible signal of the deeper and more malevolent changes and disruptive changes that will be happening under the hood," said Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matter for America.
Mr Carusone said that while Twitter may not have the most users, it has "agenda-setting power" and he worries that loosening the rules that the company has spent years putting in place could have serious ramifications.
But Mr Musk has tried to assuage such concerns. On Friday, he tweeted that "Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints".
He said no "major content decision or account reinstatements" would take place until the council has been formed.
Elon Musk's ex-girlfriend auctions mementos — in pictures
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Our legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
UAE finals day
Friday, April 13
Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City
3pm, UAE Conference: Dubai Tigers v Sharjah Wanderers
6.30pm, UAE Premiership: Dubai Exiles v Abu Dhabi Harlequins
UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FIXTURES
All kick-off times 10.45pm UAE ( 4 GMT) unless stated
Tuesday
Sevilla v Maribor
Spartak Moscow v Liverpool
Manchester City v Shakhtar Donetsk
Napoli v Feyenoord
Besiktas v RB Leipzig
Monaco v Porto
Apoel Nicosia v Tottenham Hotspur
Borussia Dortmund v Real Madrid
Wednesday
Basel v Benfica
CSKA Moscow Manchester United
Paris Saint-Germain v Bayern Munich
Anderlecht v Celtic
Qarabag v Roma (8pm)
Atletico Madrid v Chelsea
Juventus v Olympiakos
Sporting Lisbon v Barcelona
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Wicked: For Good
Director: Jon M Chu
Starring: Ariana Grande, Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, Jeff Goldblum, Michelle Yeoh, Ethan Slater
Rating: 4/5
The bio
Favourite vegetable: Broccoli
Favourite food: Seafood
Favourite thing to cook: Duck l'orange
Favourite book: Give and Take by Adam Grant, one of his professors at University of Pennsylvania
Favourite place to travel: Home in Kuwait.
Favourite place in the UAE: Al Qudra lakes
The Pope's itinerary
Sunday, February 3, 2019 - Rome to Abu Dhabi
1pm: departure by plane from Rome / Fiumicino to Abu Dhabi
10pm: arrival at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
Monday, February 4
12pm: welcome ceremony at the main entrance of the Presidential Palace
12.20pm: visit Abu Dhabi Crown Prince at Presidential Palace
5pm: private meeting with Muslim Council of Elders at Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
6.10pm: Inter-religious in the Founder's Memorial
Tuesday, February 5 - Abu Dhabi to Rome
9.15am: private visit to undisclosed cathedral
10.30am: public mass at Zayed Sports City – with a homily by Pope Francis
12.40pm: farewell at Abu Dhabi Presidential Airport
1pm: departure by plane to Rome
5pm: arrival at the Rome / Ciampino International Airport
