What will Musk do with Twitter?
Musk intends to "transform" the social platform by promoting more freedom of speech and giving users more control over what they see. All Elon Musk's plans after the Twitter acquisition and the debate between analysts
"I hope my worst critics stay on Twitter too, because that's what free speech means," Musk tweeted Monday morning.
The central issue of the new ownership is about content moderation.
Surprisingly, the board of directors of the company that chirps has accepted the offer worth 44 billion dollars from the owner of Tesla, in what is one of the largest leverage buyouts, purchase also through debt, of a listed company.
Musk's announcement last Thursday that he secured financing for his offering, via a combination of equity and debt covered by Morgan Stanley, appears to be the factor that turned the tide in his favor, Axios notes. “Twitter is a very difficult business to manage, with criticism on every corner. The board of directors has decided to make it someone else's problem, ”added the American newspaper.
With the deal closing by 2022, Twitter is preparing to leave Wall Street and become a wholly owned subsidiary of the visionary billionaire. With the acquisition of Twitter, the richest man in the world gets his hands on one of the most influential social networks, promising to make it the platform of free speech par excellence.
According to the Financial Times, Musk's decision "could turn Tesla's chief executive, which used the platform to attack regulators and critics, into a new age media baron, as millions of people rely on the platform. to San Francisco for the news ”.
However, Musk has not yet made it clear what he will do with Twitter. Beyond wanting to delist the company, Tesla's boss has not yet revealed his moves, simply saying that Twitter needs to be "transformed" and that it should be based on an open-source algorithm.
All changes expected.
HOW GOVERNANCE WILL CHANGE
In a tweet on April 18, the US businessman had made it known that, in the event of a purchase, the pay of the directors would be "zero". Furthermore, the composition of the board is also destined to change.
MUSK CEO OF TWITTER?
Will Musk become the owner of the social network but will he also be CEO? Driving three companies like Twitter, Tesla and Space X would be a feat, but it's not out of the question. On the other hand, the role of sole owner in a private company makes him a monarch who does not need a plate outside the door to command.
FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION FIRST OF ALL
"Free speech is the foundation of a functioning democracy and Twitter is the digital city square where vital issues for the future of humanity are debated," Musk said in a statement announcing the deal.
“Twitter has enormous potential: I'm looking forward to working with the company and the user community to unlock it,” added the billionaire entrepreneur.
In presenting his offer for Twitter, Musk outlined plans to ease the social media platform's content moderation policies, describing himself as a "free speech absolutist." So much so that in the United States Republicans are hoping the deal will pave the way for Donald Trump's return to the platformafter the former president was banned for repeatedly violating his hate speech and disinformation rules.
"As a private company, Twitter will also be able to escape the SEC but not the increasingly stringent rules on content control, from the EU Digital Service Act to US bills that go in the same direction", underlines the Agi .
TWEET MODIFICATION COMING SOON
Coming to the edit button for tweets? Probably yes.
At the Ted conference in April 2022, Musk said he wanted Twitter to have an "edit" button. Also in April Musk asked his followers if they would like an edit button. About 74% of the more than 4.4 million respondents voted yes. And the company Twitter confirmed (via tweet) after the survey that it is working on an edit button, adding: "No, we did not get the idea from a survey".
OPEN SOURCE ALGORITHM
Furthermore, in the press release that made the purchase official, the new owner mentioned two other changes: "Open source algorithms to increase trust", battle "against bots". In March, Musk said he was "worried" about a "de facto algorithm bias". In essence, Twitter would promote the visibility of some content and discourage others. "How do we know what's really going on?". Musk asked his followers if they would support an open source algorithm. About 83% of over 1.1 million respondents said yes.
WAR ON BOTS
Finally, in the acquisition plan Musk has also formalized the battle against spam bots "the most annoying problem" on Twitter. Also in April 2022 he chirped: "If our Twitter offer is successful, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying!"
And the billionaire wrote in a response to that tweet that Twitter would "authenticate all real human beings" under his ownership.
THE ANALYSTS DIVIDE
"Twitter, the platform that once helped fuel the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street, is now owned by the richest man in the world and you have to wonder what impact it will have," TechCrunch points out.
Brent Leary, founder and principal analyst of CRM Essentials, tells TechCrunch that he is concerned that having someone in charge makes Twitter dangerously susceptible to abuse. “How active he could be in using his new“ toy ”in helping the people he wants to see in the office to spread their messages, as well as hindering / paralyzing / prohibiting competitors from using the platform. The same is true for potential commercial competitors. How many will feel the need to kiss the ring to have full access to the power of the channel, ”Leary wonders.
Holger Mueller, an analyst at Constellation Research, is more optimistic about the future with Musk in charge. “Musk is returning to where he started: to software. I think it will be crucial to make sure that Twitter is operating independently and is “only” improving the offering, ”Mueller pointed out.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/che-cosa-fara-musk-con-twitter/ on Tue, 26 Apr 2022 13:45:47 +0000.