After turning Twitter upside down, Elon Musk on Tuesday attempted to clarify his plans for content moderation, a key issue for the future of the influential platform following the departure of advertisers and top executives.

Musk said Friday he had restored certain suspended accounts to his site, but added that no decision had yet been made to welcome back former US President Donald Trump.

Twitter watchers have been watching closely whether Musk will reinstate Trump, who was banned for inciting a mob attack on the Capitol last year in a bid to overturn the 2020 election results.

Restoring accounts ousted from Twitter for violating content moderation rules has been seen as guiding where Musk, a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist,” wants to take the site.

In the same flurry of tweets, Musk revealed a new method for handling future hateful or “negative” content that appeared to strike a balance between unadulterated free speech and some form of site surveillance.

The search for a content moderation solution became particularly urgent after Musk’s first major site makeover — the expansion of a paid subscription service — sparked an embarrassing spate of fake accounts getting advertisers up and running.

“The new Twitter policy is free speech, not free reach,” Musk tweeted on Friday.

“Negative/hate tweets are maximally devalued and demonstrated, so no advertising or other revenue for Twitter,” he wrote.

Essentially, Musk seemed to hint at a similar policy to YouTube, Google’s video platform, where some provocative content is given less priority in the site’s algorithm, but not removed entirely.

“You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically search for it, which is no different from the rest of the internet,” Musk said.

Ella Girwin, his newly installed trust and security chief, called Musk’s approach “a core principle for Twitter … that helps us ensure we maintain a healthy platform.”

To make his point clear, Musk then announced the reopening of three Twitter accounts that had been suspended for violating Twitter’s content moderation policy.

Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson was suspended from Twitter before Musk’s ownership in June after he published a post about transgender actor Elliot Page violating the site’s rules on hateful behavior.

Peterson has often spoken out against the rights of transgender people and was prompted by Twitter to remove the post on Page.

The Babylon Bee, a conservative parody site, was suspended in March for similar tweets targeting Rachel Levine, a trans woman who serves as US Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services.

The third account, owned by comedian Kathy Griffin, was suspended earlier this month as Musk cracked down on accounts impersonating others.

Griffin, who has two million Twitter followers, changed her username to Elon Musk, taking advantage of the site’s relaxed oversight under the billionaire.

In an opinion piece in The New York Times, Yoel Roth, Twitter’s former head of content, said it was “almost certain” Trump would return to the site.

Roth explained at length why he left Twitter last week after seven years, saying that Musk faces a major challenge in realizing his vision of free speech.

Roth warned his former boss that advertisers he “neither controls nor could win over” would pose a clear threat to his revenue streams if they were spooked by the site’s direction.

And even if he did find another way to make money, regulators in the United States, Europe and India have also been cautious, threatening Twitter with hefty fines or government intervention if the platform doesn’t play by the rules.

Above all, Roth says, Apple’s app stores and Google’s Android will have the biggest impact on Twitter’s future.

“Failing to comply with Apple and Google’s policies would be catastrophic,” Roth warned.

Their often vague content rules could see users’ access to Twitter’s phone app shut down immediately and by dictation from competing big tech companies.

“Twitter will have to balance its new owner’s goals against the practical realities of Apple and Google’s online life,” Roth said.