Elon Musk has argued for stronger protections of free speech on social media platforms and would bring Twitter closer to his views once he becomes its new owner. A few days back, on 26th March, Elon Musk said (on Twitter) that he was thinking seriously about building his own social media network, with freedom of speech being a core platform argument. The Tesla CEO has publicly criticized Twitter before, polling people on Twitter last month on whether the company adheres to the principles of free speech.
Elon Musk has observed that buying Twitter is not a way of making money, even though his bankers and investors would be expecting to see returns on their investments. To be an absolutist about freedom of expression, whether or not you think Elon Musk is, this is what he understood himself to be, who wants to ensure the limits of discourse on Twitter are the same as those in constitutional limits on expression.
Tweet Incident
Elon Musk’s tweets on Twitter’s shortcomings might be cooling off now, but make no mistake: His presence will be hanging over the company for a while, and it is possible that he could propel the platform into something much better than it is today. The social media platforms stock fell around 5 per cent this week when it revealed that Elon Musk would not be joining its board.
Many people are thinking about what Elon Musk can do with Twitter once he takes over, assuming that his $44B buyout of the social media platform gets completed. Elon Musk appears to be buying Twitter to establish norms – and in particular, reset the standards for freedom of expression, which got established over the past few years on social media and public discourse. We took seriously Musk’s stated point, his stated goal, that he is buying Twitter because he believes Twitter is crucial and that he believes in freedom of expression.
Twitter Deal Dates
Elon Musk struck the Twitter deal back in April. On April 14, 2022, the business mogul Elon Musk offered to buy American social media company Twitter, Inc., for $43B, having earlier acquired 9.1% of the company’s shares for $2.64B, becoming its largest shareholder. Business magnate Elon Musk posted his first tweet from his personal Twitter account in June 2010 and had over 80 million followers at the time of purchase.
Elon Musk is currently seeking out the $44 billion deal to purchase Twitter (TWTR.N), just four months after the platform announced that it was buying the social media company, a move that has taken it to court. Elon Musk said in his speech later Thursday at TED2022 that he is not interested in buying Twitter to make money from Twitter, and he also said that he is not sure he would be able to purchase the company. Elon Musk did not initially intend to buy the company when he started buying Twitter shares last month, and he was entirely intent on joining the board of Twitter with the hopes of being able to affect changes on the social network.
That suggests Musk’s Twitter addiction may not be completely insane, at least on principle. Perhaps the boss of Tesla and SpaceX is not insane with his prolific Twitter usage. For those who believe Tesla is a player in combating climate change and those who think SpaceX is the future of space travel, Elon Musk’s newfound fascination with Twitter seems a confusing distraction. Twitter has helped Tesla and SpaceX chiefs project Musk’s brand, but it is far from clear he is pulling ahead with this real-life, 9-kid, filter-free iron man schtick. SAN FRANCISCO (CNN Business) Since Elon Musk announced that he was buying Twitter last month, the billionaire has sent out a tweet after tweet outlining his plans for the platform, touching on everything from new features to security updates to monetization.
False Statement on Twitter Privacy
In his letter to the company, filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Musk accused Twitter of making false and misleading statements about the prevalence of fake accounts on the Twitter platform. Some LGBTQ+ users and activists expressed concern over the settlement, based on tweets from the business titan Elon Musk deriding transgender people, and fear the company suspended accounts and reinvigorated the platform would increase the result of online harassment and hate speech. The purchase has raised concerns that Twitter may scale back its content moderation.
Elon Musk has not said whether he will let former president Donald Trump back onto the platform after he got suspended by the company over his comments breaking its rules and inciting the siege of the US Capitol on Jan.6.
President Donald Trump got banned from Twitter last year over his tweets about the Jan. 6 uprising after Elon Musk’s investments in Twitter’s stock were revealed, and many members of Congress on the far-right called for changes in Twitter’s policies that would allow Trump to return.
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