Elon Musk’s Twitter restored the account of Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT) on Tuesday after he was suspended in the wake of a photo of him and his wife hunting being set as his profile image.
“I’m free! Thanks, @elonmusk,” Sen. Daines tweeted after his account was restored.
I’m free! Thanks, @elonmusk. https://t.co/reDuCwf4Q2
— Steve Daines (@SteveDaines) February 7, 2023
The senator’s account was reinstated after Musk said his suspension was “being fixed.”
“This is being fixed,” Musk wrote. “Policy against showing blood in profile pic is being amended to ‘clearly showing blood without clicking on the profile pic.’”
“The intent is to avoid people being forced to see gruesome profile pics,” he added.
This is being fixed. Policy against showing blood in profile pic is being amended to “clearly showing blood without clicking on the profile pic”.
The intent is to avoid people being forced to see gruesome profile pics.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 7, 2023
On Tuesday morning, Sen. Daines’ account was suspended after he changed his profile picture to a photo of him and his wife on a hunting trip.
“Twitter has ridiculously suspended @SteveDaines because his profile picture is of him and his wife hunting…What a disgrace!” reacted Donald Trump Jr., who shared a screenshot of the message the senator had received from Twitter.
Twitter has ridiculously suspended Sen. @SteveDaines because his profile picture is of him and his wife hunting…What a disgrace! pic.twitter.com/vH9QohkwSc
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) February 7, 2023
Twitter had locked Sen. Daines out of his account violating the platform’s “rules against graphic violence or adult content in profile images,” and informed the senator that he would need to delete his profile photo in order to regain access to his account.
“You may not include graphic violence or adult content in your profile photo or profile header image,” Twitter said in a message to Daines. “We consider graphic violence to be any form of gory media related to death, serious injury, violence, or surgical procedures.”
“By clicking Delete, you acknowledge that your profile image violated the Twitter Rules,” the social media platform added.
After the senator’s account was restored — without him having to delete his hunting photo — Musk announced that “Going forward, Twitter will be broadly accepting of different values, rather than trying to impose its own specific values on the world.”
Going forward, Twitter will be broadly accepting of different values, rather than trying to impose its own specific values on the world
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 7, 2023
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.