Elon takes over Twitter
Free speech costs $44 billion. (Image: TechCrunch)
What started three weeks ago as a “passive” investment has taken a curious turn of events with tech billionaire Elon Musk offering to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share, in cash. Musk defended his Twitter investment saying the deal was not about profit but about Twitter becoming a platform for free speech.
After a week-long wait, the social media company accepted the tech mogul’s offer. The Twitter board unanimously agreed to sell the platform to Musk for $44 billion on Monday, but the deal still requires the approval of shareholders, the social media giant said in a statement.
Musk himself invoked “free speech” after the company’s board approved the purchase on Monday.
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” the billionaire said in a statement included in the press release announcing the $44 billion deal.
“I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential—I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”
While many US conservatives are cheering the prospect of a less regulated Twitterverse—the House Republican Conference has already urged Musk to reinstate the account of former President Donald Trump—others have expressed dismay at the possibility the platform would allow hate speech and disinformation to spread without safeguards.
“Mr. Musk, free speech is wonderful, hate speech is unacceptable. Disinformation, misinformation, and hate speech have no place on Twitter,” the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, a US civil rights advocacy group, said in a statement.
At Twitter, the company’s Slack channels were buzzing with nervous anticipation, The Verge reported. It had been days since Twitter leadership had shared anything with them, and after a weekend’s worth of reports that a sale was imminent, employees were looking for answers.
After the announcement, sentiment in the public Slack channels remained largely concerned. Employees revealed to The Verge, “I was kind of surprised how much people seemed like they were giving up,” another one said, “Big bummer.”
They raised questions about everything—from what the deal would mean for their compensation to whether former US President Donald Trump would be let back on the platform—at an all-hands meeting with CEO Parag Agrawal and Board Chair Bret Taylor.
Ned Miles, a Twitter employee for eight years, tweeted, “Can someone just tell me if I’m rich or fired please.”
Twitter co-founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey expressed excitement, “Twitter is the closest thing we have to a global consciousness.” He then added, “Elon is the singular solution I trust. I trust his mission to extend the light of consciousness.” While Jeff Bezos already tested Musk’s free speech undertaking by trolling.
The real concern in this Twitter-Musk saga is the accountability and responsibility of tech platforms when it comes to free speech. Debates on free speech, cancel culture, and the spread of misinformation will never end unless there are laws to regulate.
And who gets to decide what the limits are on free speech, if any? Because if it’s eccentric billionaires-slash-shitposters who own tech platforms and tweet as a hobby, I think we may have a problem.
