By the end of October, Elon Musk may own Twitter, following the mercurial billionaire changed his mind regarding buying the platform for $44 billion.
On Thursday, Judge Elon Musk gave Twitter and Twitter until October 28 to close their agreement, end a bitter months-long legal battle and avoid a high-profile trial.
In the event that Elon Musk does not change his mind once more, and the deal ends with the American billionaire’s acquisition of Twitter, what will the famous platform look like? How will Mask deal with it?
freedom of expression
When Musk agreed to buy back Twitter in April, he said it would “unlock” the company’s potential by promoting free speech and “defeating spam bots.”
“Freedom of expression is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital city arena where matters vital to the future of humanity are discussed,” he said in the official deal announcement.
This trend was echoed by Elon Musk, telling Twitter employees in a meeting that the platform should allow all legal talk.
harassment
Musk has been highly critical of Twitter’s rules aimed at curbing harassment, hate speech, extremism and misinformation regarding elections and public health, arguing that the company’s efforts to promote what it has long described as “healthy conversations” are too restrictive.
Elon Musk and his supporters instigated this view, according to text messages published in court filings last week.
Experts who study social networks warn that reforming Twitter to allow all legal speech will open the door to abuse once morest minorities, women, racism and other issues.
To get “an insight into what Twitter would look like under Elon Musk’s leadership, just look at alternative platforms like Parler, Gab and True Social that promise fewer restrictions on speech,” said Angelo Caruson, president of the liberal non-profit group Media Matters for America. .
Trump’s comeback
On top of easing content moderation rules, it’s also possible that Elon Musk’s Twitter site will allow the return of former President Donald Trump.
After the January 6, 2021 mutiny at the US Capitol, Twitter permanently banned Trump for violating its rules once morest incitement to violence.
In May, Musk said the ban “was a morally bad decision” and vowed to rescind the ban.
But it’s not just regarding Trump, Musk has been vocal regarding the idea that anyone should be permanently banned from Twitter, with few exceptions.
Permanent ban cancellation
“It would be nice to have the permanent ban removed, except for spam accounts and those that explicitly call for violence,” the billionaire said.
That might mean lifting the ban on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, who was fired for abusive behavior in 201, and Representative Marjorie Taylor Green, whose account was suspended last January for posting misleading and false tweets regarding COVID-19 vaccines; 2020 election deniers such as Michael Flynn, Sidney Powell and Mike Lindell, all of whom were banned in early 2021.
accurate game
One of the people who texted Musk in the days following his stake was posted on Twitter (his name is withheld in court documents) advised the billionaire that “letting right-wingers back on Twitter would be a delicate game and how to navigate that (especially the president) himself, if you’re ready for that.” )” — in a clear reference to Trump.
The person urged Musk to hire “someone with a smart cultural and political viewpoint” to lead the implementation.
Allowing Trump and others to return might set a precedent for other social media networks, including Meta-owned Facebook, which is considering whether to reinstate the former president when his own ban expires in January 2023.
If Twitter allows Trump to tweet once more, it would be easy to also allow the former president to return to Facebook.
change management
Elon Musk is also expected to turn things around internally at Twitter, and Agrawal, who succeeded Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey as CEO less than a year ago, is likely to leave his role, with a possible $42 million payout.
Musk’s texts reveal, according to npr, that the initially cautious friendly relationship between the two men when Musk first invested quickly soured following Agrawal told Musk that his tweets critical of the platform “do not help improve Twitter”.
Expectations indicated that Musk, who already runs several companies, might take over Twitter himself.
