Editorial: Musk’s Twitter gamble

In a far-reaching development in the world of social media, the world’s richest man Elon Musk has taken over the microblogging platform Twitter for $44 billion. When Musk had initially made the offer a fortnight ago, the Twitter board had rebuffed it. It then appeared that the Twitter board was determined to dig in its heels and there were reports that it may exercise the poison pill option - that would have made the takeover much more expensive and complicated for the Tesla CEO.

However, now the social media company has taken a U-turn. The board of Twitter has agreed to consider Musk’s offer and ask its shareholders to vote to approve the deal. Former CEO Jack Dorsey now says “Elon is the singular solution I trust.” The current CEO Parag Agrawal, who took over five months ago, told employees that he doesn’t know in what direction the company will go once the new management takes over. All this points to a sudden capitulation by the social media giant.

The world’s richest man taking over a powerful social media platform raises many questions, which can be classified into two parts - free speech and oligarchy. Ever since the takeover was announced, Musk has been trying to promote himself as a free speech votary. He claimed he was a “free speech absolutist” and urged his “worst critics” to stay on the microblogging platform.

Making a pitch for free speech he said, “I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans.” If Musk walks the talk and weeds out spam bots, it will be a huge relief for those who hold independent views in polarised countries like India. At the same time, it will be a big blow to some public figures whose following on social media is often puffed up by spam bots.

However, critics point out that his free speech advocacy seems to be confined to his own speech and that of his fans and promoters. Musk has been active on Twitter, with over 80 million followers, but his conduct has been far from exemplary. He has been known to clash with journalists and block critics.

Musk also has scant regard for his employees’ right to free speech. Tesla often makes its employees sign non-disparagement clauses with no end date. This particular clause prohibits an employee from speaking negatively about the company, its products, and services in any form of communication.

Another major issue is that of monopoly. Musk’s Twitter purchase is seen as the latest example of an oligarch’s quest to control the news media. It is similar to Jeff Bezos owning Washington Post and Rupert Murdoch controlling many publications. India is no stranger to such ownerships - Mukesh Ambani owns a slew of TV channels and his rival Gautam Adani is now reportedly scouting to buy media properties. Such monopolistic trends leave little room for dissenters and the marginalized sections of society to air their views.