Musk's idea of 'free speech' worries analysts about future of Twitter
Twitter declared on Monday (April 25) that it has accepted the Tesla CEO’s $44 billion offer to sell the micro blogging site.
With Elon Musk at the helm, it is believed that Twitter will undergo major structural and conceptual changes that suit the Tesla CEO’s ideas of free speech.
Currently, blocks users that post harassing, and abusive posts intended at causing physical harm to people. Musk calls himself a “free speech absolutist” and has been critical of what he calls “excessive moderation on online platforms”. It is widely believed that he will loosen up content rules in the name of free speech.
Musk has earlier commented that social networking sites should not omit comments, though offensive, but legally valid.
Social media analysts fear that Musk’s penchant for “free speech” may give a free hand to harassers, trolls and others who misuse the platform to target people.
Analysts also think that Musk may just empower people who are more than willing to exploit Twitter by spread lies about political personalities, their agendas, events, government officials and matters related to public health and safety.
An edit button to change tweets
One of the most requested product changes among Twitter users is an edit button.
Unlike Facebook, Instagram and other social media apps, it is not possible to change content on Twitter once it’s published. Musk, who earlier had a minority stake in Twitter, had put a post asking how many support the idea of editing a tweet. The reaction was mixed. With full control over Twitter now, Musk may lend his support to people who want to change what their tweets say.
Analysts fear that an edit button could weaponize those who want to cover up abuse or harassment as if it never happened, or to dupe or manipulate people. A section of the society also believes that such a misuse could be prevented by providing safeguards so that tweets could be edited to clean up typos, while also showing a history of how the tweet was edited to preserve the original content.
Musk wants to know more
Musk also wants a deeper assessment of the software that decides what people see and how widely content spreads on Twitter. He advocates placing Twitter’s algorithm on GitHub, a site popular with programmers for sharing computer code.
Musk’s supporters say the move will bring in more transparency in Twitter, others argue Twitter’s dense and complicated algorithm to the public would accomplish very little. Twitter’s recommendation system is so complex that its own technicians would struggle to explain how and why tweets go viral.
Deal details
Musk’s deal with Twitter was finalised about two weeks. Recently, the billionaire said he had lined up $46.5 billion in financing to buy the company, thus compelling the company board to start negotiations.
Twitter issued a statement saying “the transaction was unanimously approved by its 11-member board of directors”. The board includes Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey, who has been planning to step down from the board in May. The deal is expected to close sometime this year and is subject to the approval of Twitter stockholders and regulators.
Putting his trust in Musk, Dorset tweeted: “In principle, I don’t believe anyone should own or run Twitter. It wants to be a public good at a protocol level, not a company. Solving for the problem of it being a company however, Elon is the singular solution I trust. I trust his mission to extend the light of consciousness.”
— jack (@jack) April 26, 2022
Shares of Twitter Inc. rose 6% Monday to $52 per share. On April 14, Musk announced an offer to buy the social media platform for $54.20 per share. While the stock is up sharply since Musk made his offer, it is well below the high of $77 per share it reached in February 2021.
