Twitter users will be able to appeal account suspensions and be evaluated under the social media platform’s new criteria for reinstatement, starting Feb. 1, the company said on Friday.

Under the new criteria, which follow billionaire Elon Musk’s purchase of the company in October, Twitter accounts will only be suspended for severe or ongoing and repeat violations of the platform’s policies.

Severe policy violations include engaging in illegal content or activity, inciting or threatening violence or harm, and engaging in targeted harassment of other users, among others.

Twitter said that going forward, it will take less severe action, in comparison to account suspension, such as limiting the reach of tweets that violate its policies or asking users to remove tweets before continuing to use the account.

In December, Musk came under fire for suspending accounts of several journalists over a controversy on publishing public data about the billionaire’s plane. He later reinstated the accounts.

A few days back, Twitter owner Elon Musk also tweeted about a higher-priced subscription to the social media platform which will not carry any advertisements. Calling ads to be “too frequent on Twitter and too big,” the billionaire assured that steps will be taken to address those issues in the coming weeks. It is important to note here that Twitter earns nearly 90 percent of its revenue from selling digital ads. Recently, Musk blamed rights organisations for the “massive drop in revenue” due to the pressure on brands to pause their Twitter ads.

In January, the microblogging site also announced the price for a Twitter Blue subscription for Android to be at $11 (roughly Rs. 900) per month, similar to the fee for iOS subscribers. However, the company offered a cheaper annual plan for web users when compared to monthly charges. The higher pricing for Android users is likely to offset fees charged by Android’s Google Play Store, like Apple’s App Store.

© Thomson Reuters 2023