A far-right activist banned from Twitter for fundraising to 'take out' a BLM activist was told by an Elon Musk associate he may get his account back 'soon,' report says

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A far-right activist banned from Twitter for fundraising to 'take out' a BLM activist was told by an Elon Musk associate he may get his account back 'soon,' report says
Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during a press conference at SpaceX's Starbase facility near Boca Chica Village in South Texas on February 10, 2022.JIM WATSON / AFP
  • Charles Johnson was banned from Twitter in 2015 after fundraising to "take out" a BLM activist.
  • Johnson asked an Elon Musk associate when he could get his account back, WSJ reported.
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A close associate of Elon Musk told a far-right activist who was banned from Twitter that he may get his account back soon after the Tesla billionaire bought the platform, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Charles Johnson, who was known for trolling on the platform and doxxing journalists, was banned from Twitter in 2015 after he used the site to fundraise to "take out" Black Lives Matter activist DeRay McKesson.

Twitter announced on Monday it had accepted Musk's offer to buy the company in a $44 billion deal. When Johnson heard about the offer, he texted Jared Birchall, who runs Musk's personal investment office and was working on the deal, the Journal reported.

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"When do I get my Twitter account back?" Johnson asked.

"Hopefully soon," Birchall replied, according to The Journal.

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Johnson could not immediately be reached for comment. He told the Journal he wants his account back but does not plan to tweet regularly again.

Tesla did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment from Musk.

Musk has said he wants Twitter to be a public platform for free speech, prompting speculation over how the platform's content moderation will change and whether or not previously banned people will be allowed back on.

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