In 10 days, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has gone from popular Twitter contributor and critic to the company’s largest individual shareholder to a would-be owner of the social platform—a whirlwind of activity that could change the …
April 15,2022 In 10 days, Tesla CEO Elon Musk has gone from popular Twitter contributor and critic to the company’s largest individual shareholder to a would-be owner of the social platform—a whirlwind of activity that could change the service dramatically given the sometimes whimsical billionaire’s self-identification as a free-speech absolutist. Twitter revealed in a securities filing Thursday that Musk has offered to buy the company outright for more than $43 billion, saying the social media platform « needs to be transformed as a private company » in order to build trust with its users. « I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy, » Musk said in the filing. « I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. » Later in the day, during an onstage interview at the TED 2022 conference, he went even broader: « Having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization. » Since it burst onto the scene in 2006, Twitter has been home to flourishing social and political commentary, shared news, scandal gossip, cat memes and dress color arguments. But it has also provided a platform for viral misinformation and lies, bullying and hate speech and gangs of trolls who can shout down posters they disagree with by unleashing tidal waves of vile images, threats and similar acts of online aggression. Twitter has devoted a substantial amount of effort to stanching the latter while preserving the former—though not always in ways that satisfy most users. Like other platforms, it has established restrictions on tweets that threaten violence, incite hatred, bully others and spread misinformation. Such rules drove Twitter’s decision to ban former President Donald Trump following the 2021 Capitol insurrection. Twitter has also become a destination for brands and advertisers, many of whom prefer stronger content restrictions, and a megaphone for high-profile figures like Trump and Musk, who’s used it to rally supporters and promote business ventures. Musk, who described Twitter as a « de facto town square, » detailed some specific potential changes Thursday—like favoring temporary rather than permanent bans—but has mostly described his aim in broad and abstract terms. He said he wanted to open up the « black box » of artificial intelligence technology driving Twitter’s feed so that people would have more transparency about why some tweets might go viral and others might disappear. « I wouldn’t personally be in there editing tweets, » he said, « but you would know if something was done to promote, demote or otherwise affect a tweet.
