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Why is Elon Musk Buying Twitter?
Why is Elon Musk buying Twitter? Some say that it’s because he’s enamored with the platform. Others say he wants to defend it from hate speech and protect the moderation of content. I’ll discuss both reasons in this article. One reason Musk might be buying Twitter is because he wants to protect content moderation, which could benefit his other companies. But why did he purchase Twitter in the first place?
Elon Musk bought twitter because he was enamored with the platform
The tech titan recently revealed that he owned 9% of Twitter. A few days later, he said he was close to lining up $46.5 billion in financing to acquire the company. Moreover, Musk also pushed the company’s board to negotiate with Twitter, which they did unanimously. The transaction is expected to close in 2022. Musk has already publicly stated that he is “very reluctant” to delete posts.
While Twitter’s user base is smaller than some of its competitors, the platform’s popularity with politicians, journalists, intellectuals, and celebrities is unmatched. Elon Musk is a prolific tweeter with a following that rivals that of pop stars. According to SEC filings, Musk’s investment in Twitter is secured by a stake in Tesla. Tesla is Musk’s privately held electric-vehicle company. SpaceX, his privately held space company, is another reason.
He wanted to defend hate speech
Elon Musk has been talking about the First Amendment and how free speech is important, but he has little experience with managing Twitter’s content. Hundreds of millions of tweets are published every day. So how will Elon Musk deal with the censorship issue? So far, Musk has offered some clues. He plans to keep controversial content on Twitter, and only remove it when it’s clear that it’s violating the law.
It all started when the conservative news satire The Babylon Bee tweeted an offensive joke that triggered Elon Musk to buy the site. The tweet compared transgender people to Nazis, which is a widely known and infamous stance. Musk has since denied the accusations, but that doesn’t mean he’ll change the company’s policy. Twitter users are assuming that he’ll make changes to amplify conservative content and thwart left-leaning content. The extent to which that happens will depend on the balance between Musk’s financial concerns and his ideological beliefs. The right-wing alternatives to Twitter have not taken off.
He wanted a standstill clause in the deal
When buying Twitter, Elon Musk wanted a standstill clause, but the deal was not a “standstill.” The agreement required Twitter to conduct business in the ordinary course and retain a substantially intact business organization. However, despite Musk’s request for information, Twitter has done almost nothing to make the acquisition happen. In fact, the company recently laid off two key executives and announced layoffs in the talent acquisition team. Musk’s lawyers have raised no objections to the layoffs.
In the past, this type of dispute has been unsuccessful. In the Delaware courts, the plaintiff has only succeeded in claiming a material adverse effect. Nonetheless, Musk’s lawyers argued that the deal did not impose any restrictions on the use of Twitter stock, and that he wanted the standstill clause to protect his interests. The standstill clause in Twitter’s contract is called a “poison pill.” Musk can’t purchase more than 15 percent of the company’s stock without obtaining the board’s approval.
He wants to protect content moderation
In the past, Elon Musk has talked about the importance of content moderation, or how social media platforms determine what can be said and shared. Now, though, that system seems broken and it’s up to the platforms to fix it. However, Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, isn’t so sure about content moderation. While Musk says he plans to leave controversial content up, he only wants to remove content that violates the law.
The new rules are designed to “overhaul” the digital market, requiring more transparency in ads and content moderation. Twitter’s controversial policy has drawn criticism from Elon Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist” who has criticised the company’s content moderation policies. But, Musk’s new stance is not likely to boost the platform’s user growth.
