San Francisco: Twitter officially became Elon Musk’s private property on Friday, leading the social media giant down an uncertain path under the control of one of its most vocal critics. Twitter was directed at how the platform would perform under the absolutism of Twitter.Some users fear it will turn Twitter into a global stage for hate speech and disinformation.
Agreeing with such concerns, Musk’s first policy act was to tweet that he would form a “content moderation council” that would be open to “a wide variety of perspectives.” No major content decisions or account reinstatements will be made,” he said. The dodge melodrama is over.
“Birds are free,” tweeted the Tesla founder and space pioneer billionaire, referring to the company’s logo. “Let’s have some more fun.” The deal sparked contrasting reactions, with former U.S. President Donald Trump hailing a change of leadership on platforms that had banned him, and activists seeing a surge in harassment and misinformation. European politicians were quick to inform Musk that the continent had restrictions on social media companies. EU Internal Market Commissioner Thierry Breton tweeted: “In Europe, birds will fly by our rules.”
Musk has vowed to curb content moderation, which was hoped to pave the way for Trump to return to the platform. The then-president was blocked out of fear he would ignite more violence to reverse his election loss, like the 2021 fatal attack on the U.S. Capitol. . Addressing his Truth Social platform, Trump said he was “extremely happy that Twitter has fallen into the hands of sanity,” but made no promises to rejoin it if allowed. users were quick to revel in mask ownership, posting comments like “Masks don’t work” and other provocations in the belief that moderation rules would be relaxed.
Jason Stanley, a professor of philosophy at Yale University, sees Trump’s rise as a sign of the rise of fascism in the United States and says he will change his approach to posting. “For the time being, I’ll stay on Twitter. But now that Elon Musk is in charge, I’ll be more careful with what I say. Cascading hate speech targeting ruins the week.” could become,” he said.
Right-wing political commentator Ben Shapiro said he gained 40,000 Twitter followers on Friday, while liberal actor Mark Hamill said he lost about 6,000 followers in the past three days. Musk has reportedly fired Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal and other senior officials, but the company did not respond to requests for comment, and Agrawal is still listed as CEO on his Twitter profile. are named.
However, Ned Segal, who has been Twitter’s chief financial officer since 2017, has announced his resignation. “At its best, (Twitter) democratizes communication and knowledge, ensuring accountability and equal distribution of information,” Segal said. “For everyone involved in this work, this is a huge responsibility. I wish them strength and wisdom and foresight.”
Employees packed the San Francisco headquarters on Friday. “There were more people in the office today than we’ve seen since COVID,” said one employee who requested anonymity. “Elon brought in a team of engineers from Tesla to do some assessments. I would be very surprised if there weren’t any immediate layoffs.” , Musk, who financed the deal with a combination of bank loans, has admitted to overpaying a company that regularly posts eye-popping losses.
According to Twitter, it has 238 million daily users, which is smaller than Facebook’s roughly 2 billion and is not as monetized as its rivals. But because it is the platform of choice for many businesses, politicians, journalists and other celebrities, it has had a tremendous impact on public discourse. Despite vowing not to, Musk is reportedly planning drastic layoffs that will eradicate the team that oversees content.
Musk said in a letter to advertisers that he wants Twitter to be a forum where rival views can be discussed in a “healthy way”, but US automaker General Motors on Friday “paused paid advertising on its platform”. ” said he did. A GM spokesperson said, “We are working with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under new ownership.
Media watchdog Media Matters for America has sounded alarm bells about the future of Musk-led Twitter, especially its impact on the impending US midterm elections. The platform is “on the runway to becoming a supercharged engine of radicalization” and is “a hot swamp of dangerous conspiracy theories, partisan deceptions and manipulated harassment,” the organization blames. spokesman Angelo Carusone said – AFP
