Elon Musk agreed on Monday to buy Twitter for about $ 44 billion, promising a lighter impact on the police content social media platform, where he – the richest man in the world – promotes his interests, attacking critics. and examines broad -based problems. range. More than 83 million followers.
A senior Tesla CEO said he wanted to own and privatize Twitter because he believed he was not using its potential as a platform for free speech.
Musk said in a joint statement on Twitter that he wants the service to be “better than ever” with new features, avoiding automated “spam” accounts and making its algorithms open to the public to increase the trust.
“Free speech is the foundation of a functioning democracy and Twitter is a digital town square that addresses issues that matter to humanity’s future,” said Musk, 50. Hearts, stars and rocket emotions On Twitter, the announcement was featured.
Musk’s approach to content moderation worries many users that the platform will become a haven for disinformation, hate speech and intimidation, something many have tried to reduce in recent years. Wall Street analysts say that if it is exceeded, it could even alienate advertisers.
The deal was reached about two weeks after the billionaire first announced a 9% stake in the platform. Musk said last week he did. Allocated $ 46.5 billion in funding to Buy Twitter, lobby the company’s board to negotiate a deal.
Twitter said the transaction was unanimously approved by its board of directors and is expected to close in 2022, pending regulatory signatures and shareholder approval.
Twitter Inc. shares. rose more than 5% to $ 51.70 on Monday. On April 14, Musk announced an offer to buy Twitter at $ 54.20 per share. Although the stock has risen sharply since Musk made his offer, it is relatively low on the $ 77 high reached in February 2021.
Musk called himself an “absolute freedom of speech,” but is also known for blocking or insulting other Twitter users who read or disagree with him.
In recent weeks, he has offered to reduce restrictions on Twitter content – such as policies that suspended former President Donald Trump’s account – by freeing the platform of fake “spam” accounts and switching of advertising as the primary model of admission. Musk believes he can increase revenue through subscriptions, providing a better experience to paying users, perhaps even an ad version of Twitter.
Asked in a recent TED interview if his notion of “free speech” is restricted, Musk said Twitter will respect national laws restricting speech around the world. Also, he said, “very reluctant” to delete posts or permanently ban users who violate company policies.
It wouldn’t be perfect, Musk added, “but I think we really want him to have the understanding and reality that speech is as free as possible.”
Following the announcement of the deal, the NAACP issued a statement urging Musk not to allow Trump, the 45th president, to take the podium.
“Don’t allow 45 to return to the platform,” the civil rights organization said in a statement. “Don’t let Twitter become a small dish for hate speech and lies that undermine our democracy.”
As a candidate and president, Trump has made Twitter a powerful megaphone when speaking directly to the public, often using offensive and divisive language on sensitive issues. He was banned from serving forever after the storm on Jan. 6 at the Capitol.
Advertisers, who are currently primarily Twitter users, are also demanding adherence to stricter content rules, Musk criticized. “Their happiness requires restraint that limits hate speech so that brands don’t try to popularize their products in conjunction with the‘ call to genocide ’,” said Siva Vaidhianathan, a professor of media research at the University. of Virginia.
“If Musk releases or expels the Twitter team, which is committed to keeping it clean and less hostile, he will see an immediate drop in user activity,” Weidhanathan said. “I think he soon discovered that inviting the nobles back was bad for business.”
Some users said on Monday that they planned to leave the platform if Musk took over. He replied on Twitter: “Hopefully even my worst critics will stay on Twitter, because that’s what free speech means.”
Musk also had trouble with federal officials with his own tweets, some of which he uses to mock securities and stock regulators.
For example, in one of his tweets in August 2018, Musk said he had the funds to buy a private Tesla for $ 420, even though the court found this to be untrue. This prompted the SEC to investigate whether Musk was still fighting. Recently, Musk violated SEC rules, forcing him to disclose that he acquired a 5% stake in Twitter; Instead he waited until it was over 9%. Experts say these issues are unlikely to affect its take on Twitter.
Although Twitter’s 200+ million user base is smaller than competitors like Facebook and TikTok, the service is popular with celebrities, world leaders, journalists, and intellectuals. Musk himself is a prolific tweeter with followers competing with several pop stars in the ranks of the most popular accounts.
He said in SEC filings last week that the money came from Morgan Stanley and other banks, some of which were backed by Tesla which has a large stake in the electric car company it manages.
Musk owns nearly $ 268 billion in assets, most of which are owned by Tesla and SpaceX, his private space company. It’s not clear how much Musk owns.
Musk began his fortune in 1999 when he sold Zip2, an online mapping and directory business, to Compaq for $ 307 million. He used his stake to create PayPal, an internet service that goes beyond banks and consumers by letting them pay directly for business. It sold $ 1.5 billion on eBay in 2002.
In the same year, Musk founded Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, after discovering that cost constraints limited travel between NASA’s planets. The company has finally developed affordable reusable missiles.
In 2004, Musk invested in Tesla, then in a startup looking to produce an electric car. He eventually became CEO and led the company to astronomical success as the world’s most important automaker and largest seller of electric vehicles.
Musk’s promise to make Twitter a free speech paradise could hamper the appeal of Donald Trump’s chaotic Truth Social app, which the former president claims as a competitor to Twitter, that will serve conservatives. Truth Social is part of Trump’s new media company, which has agreed to publish Digital World Acquisition Corp. Shares of DWAC fell 16.2% and 46% on Monday after Musk announced his stake on Twitter.
Krisher’s report from Detroit. O’Brien reports from Providence, Rhode Island. AP Business writers Mars Gordon in Washington, DC, Barbara Ortuta in Auckland, California, and Calvin Chan in London contributed to this report.
Source: Huffpost
