Elon Musk closes deal, officially buys Twitter for $44 billion
The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, will now take over one of the most authoritative social media platforms, Twitter. On Monday, Twitter accepted Elon Musk’s bid to acquire the company for $44 billion. He proposed a price of $54.20 per share on the social media giant last April.
Twitter’s sell-out became official when the Twitter board unanimously agreed to sell the social media platform to Elon Musk. However, Twitter said in a statement that the deal still requires the approval of its shareholders.
Although it was just on Monday that Twitter accepted Musk’s offer, the deal was kind of pre-cemented two weeks before. When the billionaire first confirmed his 9% ownership of the platform. Last week, he confirmed that he had secured funding of $46.5 billion to buy Twitter, which places the company’s board to strike a deal.
If our twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 21, 2022
While Musk promises to invoke ‘free speech” on the social media platform, others are skeptical as to what extent this encompasses. Since the billionaire’s active promotion of interests and attack of critics on various issues, he has gained a whopping number of 83 million followers.
Musk has been vocal about his complaints about Twitter’s post policies and expresses it in his tweets. He finds them hateful and pushing users’ disinformation. However, it is still unclear how Twitter ownership changes will affect the overall user experience. Before the acquisition, the outspoken SpaceX and Tesla CEO expressed his interest in privatizing and owning Twitter. He claims that Twitter is not using its full power as a digital platform for free speech.
I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022
Elon Musk’s New Approaches
The Tesla CEO mentioned his intentions in a joint statement with Twitter. Elon Musk said he aims to transform the service “better than ever.” He also added that he’s looking into adding new features and removing “spam” accounts. To increase users’ trust, he also plans to open Twitter’s algorithms to the public.
Elon Musk, 50-years-old, said, “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.” This tweet highlighting the statement comes with rockets, stars, and hearts emojis.
🚀💫♥️ Yesss!!! ♥️💫🚀 pic.twitter.com/0T9HzUHuh6
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022
Many US conservatives are delighted with the idea of a more free Twitterverse. Concerning this, the House Republican Conference is pushing Musk to reinstate the account of former President Donald Trump. Twitter suspended his statement following his involvement with the Jan. 6 Capitol attack riot.
After confirming the deal, the NAACP stated that Musk should not allow the activation of Trump’s Twitter account. The civil organization said, “Do not allow Twitter to become a Petri dish for hate speech or falsehoods that subvert our democracy.”
Moreover, many users are concerned about Musk’s new hands-off approach. They doubt that the platform might turn into a haven of hate speech, disinformation, and bullying. These are the main issues that the platform has worked hard to eliminate. In addition, Wall Street analysts claimed that it could mainly affect the advertisers if it goes out of hand.
This deal is dangerous for our democracy. Billionaires like Elon Musk play by a different set of rules than everyone else, accumulating power for their own gain. We need a wealth tax and strong rules to hold Big Tech accountable.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) April 25, 2022
Major Changes Coming on Twitter
Currently, Twitter’s significant customers, the advertisers, urge Musk for more vital content rules that the latter has criticized. The University of Virginia media studies professor Siva Vaidhyanathan said that keeping the advertisers satisfied requires moderating the limit of hate speeches. This is to avoid brands that aren’t trying to promote to “call for genocide.”
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Vaidhyanathan added, “ If Musk fires or drives away the team at Twitter that’s committed to keeping it clean and making it less hate-filled, he’ll see an immediate drop in user activity. I think he will find pretty fast that inviting the bigots back is bad for business.”
Although Musk has pictured himself as a “free speech absolutist,” he is also known for blocking other Twitter users who disagree and question him. In a recent TED interview about his limits on free speech, he said that Twitter would follow national laws that prohibit free speech globally. On top of that, he also said that he would be “very reluctant” to take down posts and ban users who will violate the company’s regulations.
Meanwhile, Twitter shares soar over 5% to $51.70 per share on Monday. Last April 14, Musk revealed an offer to acquire Twitter for $54.20 per share. While it shows that the stock hit high after Elon Musk’s proposal, it still didn’t reach its all-time high of $77 per share last February 2021.
