Twitter Accepts Elon Musks $44 Billion Bid
On April 25 news broke that Elon Musk and Twitter agreed to a deal worth $44 billion to hand over the entire company to the world’s richest man.
The move has many people in shock, including members of the media. Many believe it will be the end of free speech on social media. However, Elon Musk addressed these concerns in a press release.
“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,” Musk Tweeted
Musk added he’s addressing other issues such as spam bots.
What is Musk going to do with Twitter?
Along with loosening up content rules and tidying your timeline of bots, Elon Musk has said he’d create an edit button, make the algorithm transparent and possibly move to a subscription-based service rather than having ads.
What’s Next?
Elon Musk has the opportunity to now create his own media monopoly similar to Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos. I predict he will soon start buying out shares of news companies like CNN or Fox News. Of course, he would use it for less serious reasons, but he does now control a huge portion of the flow of information, and could control even more.
I believe there’s a deeper reason for Elon Musk buying out Twitter than just profits. Similar to Jeff Bezos flying into outer space, it may be more of a “billionaire bucket list” moment for Elon rather than a genuine effort in making social media a more positive place.
But for someone who’s determined to colonize Mars, controlling most major news organizations is not too far-fetched.
