After buying Twitter, Elon Musk is expected to make some big changes to the social media platform. The controversial businessman acquired the company this morning in a deal thought to be worth $44billion (£38bn).
Musk announced the news by posting a Tweet on the site that read "The bird is free". He also reportedly arrived at the company's headquarters carrying a kitchen sink, so that people could let the news "sink in".
Musk has already outlined his vision for Twitter, which he wants to become a "digital town square" for different ideas and beliefs and has told advertisers that ads will need to be more targeted in the future. But Musk has previously been critical of Twitter's policy of banning users from the site permanently for things they say.
One of his first acts as Twitter's owner was to fire Vijaya Gadde, the firm's head of legal, policy and trust. Mr Gadde was one of the executives that decided to ban President Donald Trump from the platform.
Twitter has issued a number of people with permanent bans for promoting hate speech or for spreading misinformation. Here are five people who could return to Twitter if their bans are lifted
Five people who have been banned from Twitter
Katie Hopkins
Right-wing commentator Katie Hopkins was banned from Twitter in June 2020. Hopkins first appeared on our screens on The Apprentice and soon amassed a following as a columnist. She has made a number of hateful comments in the past including describing immigrants as "vermin".
She had more than one million followers on Twitter when the social media company banned her. Twitter said Hopkins had been banned for violating its hateful conduct policy.
Donald Trump
President Donald Trump was banned from Twitter on January 8, last year. He was banned from the site shortly after the attack on the US Capitol on January 6.
Trump had claimed that the election had been rigged and many of his supporters rioted and stormed the Capitol. He was criticised for not telling his supporters to cease.
One of his final tweets read: "The 75,000,000 great American Patriots who voted for me, AMERICA FIRST, and MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, will have a GIANT VOICE long into the future. They will not be disrespected or treated unfairly in any way, shape or form!!!"
At the time Twitter said the message was "being interpreted as further indication that President Trump does not plan to facilitate an 'orderly transition'".
David Icke
David Icke is a well-known British conspiracy theorist. He has endorsed a number of conspiracy theories over the years, including claiming that the Isle of Wight is run by a "network of Freemasons, Satanists and paedophiles".
He was banned by Twitter on November 4, 2020. The company said he was "permanently suspended for violating Twitter's rules regarding Covid misinformation."
David Duke
Twitter permanently banned David Duke for violating its rules about "hateful conduct" in July 2020. Duke is a white nationalist and ex-leader of the Klu Klux Klan.
His final tweet linked to an interview conducted with Germar Rudolf. Rudolf had been convicted of Holocaust denial in Germany.
Alex Jones
Right-wing presenter Alex Jones was banned from Twitter, along with his website Infowars, for violating the social media platform's abusive behaviour police. He was banned in 2018.
Jones was deleted from YouTube and Facebook at around the same time. HE is known for spreading false allegations about a number of events including 9/11.
He claimed that the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School Shooting, in which 12 children and six adults were murdered, was a hoax. He was recently sued for defamation for these comments.
