Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk purchased Twitter and became the new owner of the platform.
On Oct. 27, Musk paid $44 billion for Twitter and $54.20 for each share. Because of this, Twitter is now a privately owned company, according to a press release by PRNewswire.
Musk has big plans for Twitter — he wants to expand free speech on the platform. In a Twitter post, Musk declared free speech as defined by the law, and denounced the censorship prior to his takeover, claiming it exceeded the bounds of the law.
“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. I also want to make Twitter better than ever by defeating the spam bots and authenticating all humans,” Musk said in the press release.
Soon after Musk took over, he fired thousands of Twitter employees, including CEO Parag Agrawal. According to CNN, Musk laid off 3,700 employees, about half the number of employees that worked in various departments, including marketing, and public policy, before Musk took over.
“Musk demonstrated that he is willing to rule Twitter with an iron fist; I feel like Elon Musk is planning some drastic changes in Twitter policy and leadership,” said Yuno Nakamura, a sophomore at Carlmont High School. “I couldn’t think of a way that Musk could deteriorate the current version of Twitter, and I agree with Musk’s opinion to ease the current censorship policy.”
Musk has shared many new ideas for the platform. For example, in a Twitter post, Musk shared the idea of giving people blue checkmarks next to usernames for $8 a month. In addition, Musk provided the idea of additional perks coming with this premium status, such as the ability to post longer videos and half as many advertisements.
“He’s going to make changes that will probably receive backlash from people. It signifies that Elon Musk plans to change Twitter in more ways than just minor things you’d expect from a software update. He plans to change the whole platform,” said Enzo Chen, a junior at Carlmont High School who’s expressed concern over Musk’s policies.
Before Musk’s new idea came to light, the Twitter blue checkmark verification requirements required a Twitter user to be authentic, notable, and active. In order to be recognized as notable, one could qualify by being in the top 0.05% of followers or mention count for geographic location.
The most significant example of censorship on the platform prior to Musk’s takeover was the censorship of Donald Trump during his former presidency. Trump received a permanent ban after the Jan. 6 raid on the Capitol because of the potential threats insinuating further violence.
According to Musk, he receives constant complaints to return Trump to the platform.
However, according to the Washington Post Fact Checker, Trump has made 30,000 false or misleading claims within four years, making this idea unpopular amongst many.
“An American electorate needs to be informed with accurate information in order to fully engage with their responsibilities as citizens, and when you permit the proliferation and amplification of lies, you create an imbalance,” said Erik Migdail, an English teacher at Carlmont High School. “The First Amendment, as it’s currently interpreted, no longer serves the purpose of allowing for free speech and debate because not everyone has an equal megaphone.”
Musk’s recent actions have provoked concern about him potentially abusing this newfound power.
“I think there are significant implications for free and healthy speech in our public square. I’m even more concerned given the particular stances taken by Mr. Musk and the political power that goes along with control of internet speech that is centered in the hands of any individual, but particularly billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk,” Migdail said.
Chen had additional concerns about Musk’s expertise when combined with the power he now yields.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea for a monopoly to have their hands over something that is used to spread information because they could make decisions on what information can be spread or not,” Chen said. “Free speech is in the hands of a single individual who probably doesn’t have any expertise in that general field. I don’t think Elon Musk specializes in communications at all and doesn’t have anything to do with that.”
Musk’s recent claims and actions brought additional concern to students like Chen regarding free speech. Even though Musk is loosening censorship on Twitter, Chen still believes some censorship should occur.
“Teachers used to show us in middle school and early high school the difference between good evidence and bad evidence in issues like posts on Twitter, and you can obviously tell when something feels off about it. Those types of posts and arguments that are spread out online should be monitored,” Chen said.
Nakamura took notice of an online cyberbullying situation and also believes that there should be online censorship.
“Recently, my friend was harassed on a social media platform for being in a relationship. It was conducted by an individual who kept posting negative comments about my friend’s relationship, and they caused serious emotional trauma to him,” Nakamura said. “I believe that’s when an individual should be censored; when someone harasses a specific person or group for no justifiable reason.”
In addition, censorship helps prevent the spread of misinformation. Musk’s new policies increase the potential for false information to circulate around the internet which is a concerning prospect to citizens.
“It’s difficult for me to imagine anything’s going to change anytime soon. The one hope, of course, is that Americans on the whole would prefer to have a functioning democracy and a healthy society but that requires that they have accurate information to understand what that is, which is somewhat circular because the problem is they’re not getting accurate information,” Migdail said.
Musk’s new leadership role at Twitter will ultimately test his communication and entrepreneurial abilities.
“He is an avid Twitter user, but he lacks the experience behind the program. Sure, you might be a famous Twitter user, but that doesn’t mean you can control Twitter and know exactly how to look forward to changes you need to make the different guidelines. I don’t think Elon musk understands all that,” Chen said.
