See what could change with Elon Musk as new owner Twitter

After spending months trying to get out of his deal to buy Twitter, Elon Musk is now officially the owner of a hugely influential platform. The question is, what will he actually do with it?

Musk’s inauguration – which was finalized Thursday night, a source told CNN – not only has the potential to create a stir for Twitter employees, but also for the hundreds of millions of people around the world. the world who use the platform daily. The new administration could also have impacts on the upcoming US midterm elections, if Musk makes good on his promise to restore the accounts of banned users on the platform, especially former President Donald Trump, and to limit restrictions on the company’s content.

In the first weeks after agreeing to buy the company in April and before his first attempt at resuming the deal, Musk repeatedly stressed that his goal was to reinforce “freedom of speech” on the platform and work to “unlock” the “freedom of speech” on the platform. extraordinary potential” of Twitter.

Tesla’s CEO suggested he would rethink Twitter’s approach to content moderation and permanent banning, with potential impacts on civil discourse and the political landscape. He also spoke about his desire to rid the platform of bots – but later he made the issue of the number of bots a central point in the argument for leaving the business.

During Tesla’s earnings call last week, the billionaire acknowledged that while finalizing the $44 billion deal was an “overpayment” for the social media company, ” The long-term potential for Twitter, in my opinion, is an order of magnitude greater than its current value.” In addition, he said he believed that Twitter “has languished for a long time, but it has incredible potential.”

Musk’s plans to boost Twitter’s value may involve cutting back on labor, a point he’s mentioned in the past. There have been reports that suggested he planned to cut 75% of staff, although he himself told Twitter employees this week that he won’t. In any case, anxiety is growing in the company. Once the deal was finalized, Musk immediately fired CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Ned Segal and head of policy Vijaya Gadde.

In public and private statements over the past six months, the billionaire has hinted at a wide variety of other potential changes, from turning on end-to-end encryption for Twitter’s direct messaging feature to the suggestion, given this week, that the Twitter becomes part of an “everything” app called X, possibly in the style of the popular Chinese app WeChat.

There were also more far-fetched suggestions. In a message exchange with his brother Kimbal Musk, revealed last week in court documents, the two appeared to be discussing the possibility of asking users to pay for every tweet they post with small amounts of the DogeCoin cryptocurrency.
Now that Musk has concluded the deal, some of these theoretical changes could soon become a reality. Here’s what users should know:

Change in content moderation

For years, under former CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey, Twitter has emphasized its work to reinforce “healthy conversations”. The company banned many accounts promoting abuse and spam, added labels for false or misleading information, and banned “misgendering” for transgender people.

Under Musk’s ownership, Twitter could ease measures taken to make the platform more acceptable to its most vulnerable users, typically women, members of the LGBTQIA+ community and people of color, according to security experts.

The billionaire said that Twitter, under his leadership, would have more lenient content moderation policies. “When in doubt, let the speech exist,” he declared in an interview in April. “If it’s a gray, dubious area, let the tweet exist. But obviously, in the event that there’s maybe a lot of controversy, it’s not necessarily good to promote this tweet.”

On Thursday (27), the entrepreneur sought to reassure advertisers that he did not plan to turn the platform into a “free-for-all territory”, despite his promises to reduce content moderation. The remarks follow questions about whether advertisers can leave the platform in fear that their paid posts will end up alongside potentially objectionable content.

“In addition to complying with earthly laws, our platform should be warm and welcoming to everyone, where you can choose your desired experience according to your preferences,” Musk wrote in an open letter posted on Twitter. Allowing all legal intervention may not be straightforward: content rules vary across the world, and in Europe, the new Digital Services Act imposes high standards of moderation.

The billionaire also said he wants to make Twitter’s algorithm open source and more transparent to users when, for example, a tweet gains prominence or is removed from the feed. Leaders at Twitter have already expressed support for moving in that direction, and the company often makes it clear when it removes certain tweets or types of content.

Ban Trump and Other Accounts

However, the most striking change at the beginning may come precisely from those outside the platform.

Musk said he thinks Twitter should be more “reluctant to eliminate things” and “very wary of permanent bans.” The statement gives rise to thinking that a long list of controversial far-right figures and conspiracy theorists, among others, may soon return to the platform.

Musk, meanwhile, focused on bringing back one of Twitter’s most prominent former users: Trump.

“I don’t think it was right to ban Donald Trump, I think that was a mistake,” Musk said in May. “I would reverse the permanent ban. But it’s my opinion, and Jack Dorsey shares the same opinion, that we shouldn’t have permanent bans.”

Dorsey, the former CEO and creator of Twitter, tweeted after Musk’s remarks in May that he “agrees” that there should be no permanent bans on Twitter users. “There are exceptions, but generally permanent bans are a failure on our part and don’t work,” he wrote.

Trump said he doesn’t want to go back to Twitter and will instead stay on his own social media platform called Truth Social.

But if the former president accepts a Musk offer to return to Twitter, he could restore a significant following he has had no access to since being banned from the platform in January 2021 – and that at a time when the presidential race USA of 2024 intensifies. On Truth Social, Trump has just 4 million followers; on Twitter, he had more than 88 million.

Erratic and controversial history on the platform

Another notable change simply concerns the person who can make sensitive decisions.

Elon Musk has a mixed reputation in the tech industry. He is undoubtedly one of the most ambitious and successful innovators and entrepreneurs of this era. However, he is also controversial, often from his own Twitter account, where he has more than 100 million followers.

Over the years, the South African billionaire has used Twitter to make misleading claims about the Covid-19 pandemic, to accuse without evidence that a man who helped rescue children from a cave in Thailand was a sexual predator, to make fun of people. who displayed their gender pronouns on the platform and making countless jokes involving the numbers 420 (related to marijuana use) and 69 (of a sexual nature). He also tweeted a photograph (now deleted) comparing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Adolf Hitler and another of Agrawal (now former CEO) to Joseph Stalin.

Musk also tried to remove a Twitter account dedicated to tracking the movements of his private jet, offering cash to the college student who owned the account (the guy declined the offer).

On the same day he sent his letter to Twitter, trying to revive the deal, Musk was heavily criticized for comments he made on the platform about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The businessman suggested that Crimea, a region that Russia invaded and annexed to Ukraine in 2014, should become “formally part of Russia”. Most followers responded “no” to his poll and Ukraine’s ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, responded in a tweet: “F…r is my very diplomatic response to you.” In a tweet on the same topic, a seemingly frustrated Musk appeared to blame his poll results on a “bot attack”.

Until now, Twitter has, at least to some extent, been responsible for its policy decisions to advertisers, shareholders and its board. But those balances won’t necessarily exist under Musk’s leadership.