Just-In: AAVE Boss Kulechov’s Twitter Access Restored After Online Outcry

Twitter withdrew its suspension of AAVE head Stani Kulechov on Friday, after his brief removal from the platform was widely criticized.

Kulechov’s account was indefinitely suspended this week after the founder joked over joining the company as interim CEO, in light of Tesla boss Elon Musk’s recent acquisition of the platform. Responses to the tweet seemed to indicate that users were largely aware it was a joke.

The move was associated with Musk’s plans to cull misinformation on the platform. But it was widely criticized by Twitter users, on the grounds that it contrasted Musk’s plans for allowing the freedom of speech on the platform.

Kulechov doubled down on the joke his return, tweeting that he is back as “interim CEO” of Twitter.

Crypto Twitter opposes Kulechov ban

A slew of users spoke out against the ban, criticizing the apparent hypocrisy of pushing for freedom of speech while banning what appeared to be a clear joke. Criticisms were levelled against Musk, as well as current Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal.

Hey @paraga, @elonmusk, @jackyou guys talk about #FreeSpeech all day and you’ve suspended one of the best #web3 founders’ account for a funny joke.

-Twitter user @chainyoda

Kulechov’s suspension also drew ire from venture capitalists. Chris Dixon, head of crypto at a16z said:

Stani is an entrepreneur who created a Twitter competitor. He got banned yesterday from Twitter for making what was obviously a joke.

Some users blamed Twitter’s existing policies against misinformation, which they expect Musk to rectify with his takeover.

We look forward to the days where Free Speech is no longer an issue @elonmusk

-@defiyield_app

AAVE founder doubles down on joke

Kulechov tweeted that he had returned as the interim CEO of Twitter after the suspension was lifted.

Kulechov also posted a “sneak peek” video of his plans for an edit button for the platform. The edit button is one of the mostly widely requested features from Musk for his plans for Twitter.

Kulechov, who is the founder of DeFi platform AAVE, recently launched a Web3 competitor to Twitter, called Lens Protocol.