It also gives Musk access to the data of nearly 400 million users and the ability to bring back people and organizations previously banned or sidelined by Twitter, including former President Donald Trump
For now, it appears Musk is helming Twitter.
On Wednesday he changed his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit” shortly before walking into Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters carrying a porcelain sink, resurrecting a meme that has been internet lore for years. “Let that sink in,” he tweeted.
Is Donald Trump coming back to Twitter?
Now that Elon Musk is running Twitter, the Tesla billionaire is likely to reverse a permanent ban against Trump for inciting violence during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Musk has indicated he would allow Trump back on the social media platform where the former president had more than 88 million followers.
“Would be great to unwind permanent bans, except for spam accounts and those that explicitly advocate violence,” Musk texted Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal in April, according to court filings.
At a conference in May, Musk said: “I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump, I think that was a mistake.”
– Jessica Guynn
Will Trump return? Is Donald Trump coming back to Twitter now that Elon Musk bought the company?
Will Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter mean more hate, extremism online?
When Elon Musk first agreed to buy Twitter in April, he said the social media site has the potential to become “the platform for free speech around the globe” and he would unlock it.
Musk, who closed the $44 billion deal on Friday after a months-long legal fight, has described himself as a “free speech absolutist” and expressed concern over the way Twitter moderates its users.
Now that Musk owns Twitter, will he make good on his promise to loosen content moderation rules in the name of “free speech?”
Musk said Thursday he doesn’t want the site to become “a free-for-all hellscape where anything can be said with no consequences” in a message to advertisers, who analysts have said may be scared off by Tesla CEO’s stance on free speech.
Extremists cheer Musk Twitter deal: Oath Keepers trial heats up & more LGBTQ harassment
“In addition to adhering to the laws of the land, our platform must be warm and welcoming to all, where you can choose your desired experience according to your preferences,” Musk said in a note posted on Twitter.
Critics have expressed concern that Musk would allow harmful or extremist speech on the site and experts have warned that loosening content moderation could cause real-world harm.
Conservatives, meanwhile, have celebrated Musk’s Twitter takeover, as many accuse social media platforms of routinely censoring their voices, feelings further fueled earlier this year after former President Donald Trump was permanently banned from Twitter.
Musk has indicated he would let Trump, who was banned for inciting violence during the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol, back on the site.
– Amanda Pérez Pintado
Things getting nasty on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram? How to shut down the hate, harassment
How will advertisers respond to a Twitter with less moderation?
Elon Musk, a self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist,” has been advocating for less content moderation on Twitter since his plans to take over the company were first announced in April.
“We want to have the perception and the reality that speech is as free as possible,” Musk said in April at the TED2022 conference. “Is someone you don’t like allowed to say something you don’t like? And if that is the case, then we have free speech.”
The idea seems to harken back to the early days of Twitter; former CEO Dick Costolo called the site the “free-speech wing of the free-speech party” in the early 2010s.
Since then, Twitter has adopted stricter policies to combat disinformation, misinformation and hate speech. The platform’s rules prohibit targeted harassment, COVID-19 misinformation and election manipulation.
A different Twitter Elon Musk says Twitter can’t become ‘a free-for-all hellscape,’ should be ‘warm and welcoming’
Musk’s talk about softening some of Twitter’s rules to any speech has raised red flags for advertisers.
Shortly after the Wall Street Journal released a report about Madison Avenue’s concerns, Musk issued a statement on Twitter saying the social media platform “obviously cannot become a free-for-all-hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences.”
Musk’s tweet was addressed to advertisers, the company’s primary source of revenue.
“Social networks are trying to do a better job removing hateful content, content that is antisemitic, content that’s blatantly misinformation,” said Ari Lightman, professor of digital media and marketing at Carnegie Mellon University. “That’s something that advertisers worry about.”
– Bailey Schulz
