Billionaire Elon Musk became Twitter's new owner on Thursday after his $44 billion purchase. He claims the reason for his purchase is to end the divisiveness created by Twitter and promote free speech. Ironic, considering that Musk is a staunch union opponent and is infamous for firing employees who disagree with him. In fact, his first actions were to fire top executives, including former CEO Parag Agrawal and CFO Ned Segal.
Social media has become an incredibly powerful political tool in recent years. Donald Trump famously ran a campaign from his wildly popular Twitter account before getting banned. The algorithms used by social media platforms are able to present users with personalized ads and posts, allowing for a more convenient and entertaining site. However, these advertising algorithms often isolate people into bubbles by only showing them political content that aligns with their preexisting beliefs. It's how misinformation regarding the COVID-19 vaccination spread so quickly on so many sites. Musk's acquisition of Twitter and his unequivocal support for "free speech" brings up concerns about how this landscape will change in the coming months.
Musk claims Twitter unfairly suspends accounts, pandering to the right-wing narrative that conservatives are persecuted by liberal tech executives. What he doesn't realize is that the minimal censorship that does occur on Twitter is to satisfy advertisers. Most companies seeking to advertise online recognize that sharing a platform with Kanye's white-supremacist "Jewish media" rhetoric does not paint their product in the best light. Simultaneously, Twitter is reluctant to permit openly anti-capitalist and anti-imperialist opinions because Twitter doesn't have a moral code, it has an allegiance with its advertisers. Elon Musk, the supposed tech genius and pundit of private property, should recognize this.
Musk has clearly bitten off more than he can chew. On one hand, he has made a promise to his fans that he will abolish Twitter's censorship measures. On the other hand, he has to keep the company successful by retaining its advertisers. Combined with the added buyout debt of $13 billion, Musk will have a substantial amount of trouble maintaining profitability while simultaneously pleasing his supporters. It's hard to imagine that he will get by without paying out of pocket. One of the ways in which he plans to ameliorate his debt is by callously firing even more employees, placing thousands of working-class livelihoods at risk.
Elon Musk's shortsighted Twitter purchase and his bumbling leadership is a consequence of the right's contempt for censorship and their incompatible worship of the free market. Musk, caught in the middle, will have to relinquish his dry, intelligent persona as well as a significant amount of capital to keep the company afloat. He may realize that running a social media corporation is not as easy as exploiting African child laborers. It's hard to say what effect users will feel, as Musk has kept his future plans largely secret. Either way, Twitter's new leadership may impact online political discussions and the algorithms that govern them.
Sources:
https://www.reuters.com/markets/deals/elon-musk-completes-44-bln-acquisition-twitter-2022-10-28/
https://apnews.com/article/elon-musk-twitter-deal-live-updates-78d68790fb0b9971d6e65b76d97e3670
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jul/19/elon-musk-delay-trial-denied-twitter-takeover
11 comments:
His entire reasoning for trying to preserve free speech seems misconstrued and ignorant. There have been clear examples twitter posts inciting violence. He is knowingly allowing misinformation, which has damaging consequences, to continue to be posted. All of this almost seems like a publicity stunt as well. I don't think he has fully thought through this twitter takeover.
I agree with what Niki said. I think that Musk's entire reasoning is just the idea that he is trying to please his supporters by allowing
misinformation and other posts to continue being on the social media platform. He is using this purchase of Twitter to gain more followers; using it is a political thing. Lastly, I think the only thing he is thinking about is what he will do with the company but not what actually goes into running a company successfully.
Elon Musk is an extremely biased, oligarchist owner. Social media censorship is already an extremely tricky subject because one must consider how much censorship is necessary to protect the safety of its users, while also maintaining a healthy ground of free speech. While media such as Facebook has had several issues with censorship, shown through Qanon, child pornography, and more, Twitter has also involved itself in contributing to misinformation. While Musk's purpose was prioritizing free speech, he clearly doesn't understand what must be taken down for the safety of the public, and what can stay up. Being the founder of several of his own companies puts Musk in an elitist position, as Twitter is now subject to Musk's own contorted guidelines unable to comprehend the limits of censorship.
I agree with Niki as well. It doesn't seem clear if Elon Musk's Twitter will have any restrictions. The guise of "free speech" has been historically used time and time again to promote hate, misinformation, and violence. It is important that Twitter, which is a powerful communication tool in our country, is properly controlled.
I feel like the problem with twitter is that not that the platform is bad, its that the people are bad. No matter what Musk does, it will be hard for twitter to get worse. What Elon Musk is doing with Twitter, is making it easier for people to not be held accountable for their actions. In the end, for most people, Twitter will not change very much.
Somehow it seems like that Musk promoting "free speech" with Twitter is going to make politics more polarized than ever, with politicians on the platform taking extreme claims and hiding under the blanket of "free speech." Given that, it can be suspected that right-wing media will start to abuse the platform. But for average users, Twitter will likely not change much.
On a side note, not sure if Twitter will become the next WeChat like Musk wanted...
I think it's hard to decipher between "free speech" and censorship for the right reason. Social Media companies struggle to find the line between what they should ban based on the ground of "hate speech" or allow as political discourse. Especially on sites like Twitter where bots and spam can destroy all sense of political discussion turning it into a cesspool, companies need to decide on ways to alleviate this issue. Ultimately social media companies are still struggling with the issue of free speech as private companies and will need to adapt in the future to overcome bots and spam.
I completely agree with the previous comments-- the fine line that differentiates "free speech" and censorship is often blurry, however social media platforms like Twitter need to properly regulated to prevent incentives of violence and hate speech. I wonder if Donald Trump's twitter ban will be lifted under Musk's advocation for "free speech"...
It seems hypocritical to me that while Musk's takeover is largely based on the idea of free speech, it's evident that his new policies and community guidelines are limiting criticism of him. I agree with Niki and other commenters that while Twitter will probably lack the restrictions that kept the platform moderately usable in the past, it may also be more limited based on Musk's personal whims.
The sheer amount of influence that Musk has is astonishing. His antics in claiming “enabling free speech” wouldn’t fly if he didn’t have a super dedicated base of followers that worships everything he does. I think it’s pretty interesting that him ultimately taking over twitter (not hyperbole) came around election time, when he also made a tweet urging “independent-minded voters” to vote Red during the midterms. Musk cites that it’s to maintain the balance of power, but it’s quite interesting to me that Musk, one of the wealthiest people in history, could be using his platform strategically to affect policy in America. The effect of his endorsement is questioned by some*, but I am nonetheless interested that a it’s major talking point of Musk’s.
*https://www.reuters.com/world/us/musk-recommends-voting-republicans-us-midterm-elections-tweet-2022-11-07/
It's insane that Musk has abolished Twitter's censorship measures. With no guidelines or rules put in place regarding what individuals are/are not allowed to post, I won't be surprised if Twitter becomes a hub for false media. Being able to label sources as either credible or un-credible sources has become increasingly more essential as social media has developed. I'm sure that the abolishment of Twitter censorship measures will encourage many political extremists to share their opinions, creating false rumors and spreading harm internationally. Because of this, it's extremely important to fact check and find additional sources that back up posts before sharing them to other individuals.
Post a Comment