Twitter reinstates GOP Sen. Daines after flagging profile picture

Social media giant Twitter on Tuesday reinstated the account of Montana Republican Sen. Steve Daines after briefly suspending him for his profile picture.

Daines' profile picture displayed an image of the senator and his wife hunting, which included a trophy deer the pair had slain. Twitter had flagged the image as a violation of its policies.

The Montana Republican announced that the platform had reversed course in a tweet that shared a protest from GOP Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas. 

"I'm free! Thanks, [Elon Musk]" he wrote in a quote tweet of Cruz's post, which depicted Daines holding his profile picture against a height chart, resembling a mug shot.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk announced earlier that day that his team was amending the platform's policy on the depiction of blood in profile pictures. His response seemingly confirmed that the senator's profile picture had triggered the suspension.

"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," he said.

Since purchasing Twitter last year, Musk has permitted numerous conservative accounts to return to active status and reversed much of the past management's stringent content moderation guidelines.

Ben Whedon is an editor and reporter for Just the News. Follow him on Twitter.