Twitter is going through an interesting period, to say the least. Since the COVID-19 pandemic, the performance of the company’s stock is not encouraging. Faced with disinformation, the network social had to paste place more moderation, hoping to create a space for self-expression, more ready for monetization. There was also the return and then departure of founder Jack Dorsey, whose actions did not convince – in November 2021 he was replaced by Parag Argawal. And to make matters worse, now one of the biggest accounts and entertainment entities on twitter, Elon Musk, has just joined.
The entrepreneur first acquired almost 10% stake in the social network, then announced son joining the network’s board of directors social…before backing out at the last moment and offering to buy the entire chain social for $54.20 per share (note the reference to 4/20 – or four-twenty in English, referring to cannabis use in the United States, recurring in the entrepreneur’s tweets…). A hostile takeover will not necessarily be successful. Moreover, Elon Musk has already stated that he will not negotiate.
Elon Musk explains his vision for Twitter, free speech and what he plans to do with the network social
Indeed, in case of failure, Elon Musk “would have revised son investment in Twitter. A statement that should not “do not take for menace” car without the changes he intends to implement on Twitter, he explains, “His participation would not be a good investment”. But then what is Elon Musk from Twitter going to do, and why would an entrepreneur already so busy with Tesla and SpaceX intend to meddle in the affairs of the little blue bird?
Elon Musk talks about his reasons on the sidelines of a TED interview, sketching son a very personal view of free speech against a backdrop of libertarianism. This political philosophy, developed mainly in Anglo-Saxon countries, is based on the idea that a just society is a society whose institutions respect and protect the freedom of every individual. In addition to economic liberalism, individual freedom and freedom of expression are elevated as supreme rights, inalienable for whatever reason.
However, Elon Musk believes that the platform’s current moderation efforts run counter to freedom of expression. And the entrepreneur explains with confidence that he can “realizing the full potential of Twitter” in this domain : “Twitter has become a kind of place public by default. It is just very important that people have both the reality and the feeling that they have the freedom to speak freely within the law.”Elon Musk explains.
The entrepreneur later says: “Voucher test know if on is in a situation of freedom of expression: does the person you don’t like have the right to say what you don’t like? In this case, on is in the presence of freedom of speech. To some, this vision will seem a little naive, especially in light of the global disinformation campaigns carried out by some countries, such as Russia, for some time, and the difficulty of combating these actions.
Elon Musk: Twitter is a sum
However, this does not seem to stop the man who revolutionized the electric car and released satellites. When asked about moderation, the entrepreneur, with some hesitation on the sidelines of the same interview, clarifies: “I think he’d rather err on the side of free speech when in doubt [plutôt que de prudence, ndlr]”. And add: “I’m not saying that I have all the answers in this area”.
Repeating several times his preference for a space that allows all forms of speech, and son rejection of permanent bans of controversial accounts: “I think we really want to stop deleting things and be very careful about permanent bans. You know, temporary suspensions, I think, are better than permanent bans.”
Elon Musk also clarifies what everyone has more or less already thought of. son own behavior on Twitter: “I chirp more or less with my stream of consciousness. It’s not “let me think of a master plan on my Twitter”. I’m more of the type who literally says “oh that’s funny” in the bathroom and then tweets, you know?
In addition to freedom of expression (implying the virtual absence of moderation), Elon Musk talks about the “Edit” button, as well as open source Twitter: “Any changes in users’ tweets should remain obvious. So that everyone can see that this action has been taken, so that there is no manipulation behind the scenes, whether manual or via algorithm”.Another change: Twitter Blue subscriptions will drop from $3 to $2 a month, a price that will now have to be paid annually. In return, paying users will be entitled to a certified account symbol. And will have exclusive access to better tweet management tools like Tweetdeck.