A Musk-Twitter Marriage and Its Potential Impact on Big Tech
Introduction
On April 25, 2022, Twitter shocked the world by announcing its $4 billion acquisition agreement with Elon Musk. The Twitter Board unanimously approved the move, which is projected to award stockholders $54.20 in cash per share of common stock. Musk, a serial entrepreneur and controversial figure, was quoted as saying he was looking forward to working with Twitter further maximizing the platform’s potential.
Now, several weeks later, Musk claims that the deal has temporarily been placed on hold pending Twitter’s investigation to confirm if the company’s fake or spam accounts constitute less than 5% of total users. Additionally, Twitter’s legal team recently accused Musk of violating a nondisclosure agreemnent. However, the tech industry continues to talk of little else other than Musk’s projected privatization of one of the world’s largest social media companies. How would the platform change under his direction? What will Musk’s ownership of Twitter mean for free speech and content moderation? If the deal goes through, what will this mean for the future of tech in general?
Musk’s Manual: What Twitter Will Look Like Under His Leadership
Although somewhat speculative, Musk has made several public statements regarding his plans for the social media giant. We can also make inferences about his projected changes to Twitter based on his history as a business mogul and continuous innovator.
In short, should the deal be completed, we can likely expect Twitter to implement the following actions:
1. Less scrupulous content moderation policies in favor of free speech.
Musk has reiterated his desire to increase free speech on Twitter’s platform. Consequentially, the billionaire would likely advocate for less rigorous approaches to content moderation. Musk has also expressed his opposition to site bans, stating that “permanent bans should be extremely rare.” For Musk, a self-identified “free speech absolutist,” any efforts to restrict speech or actions on social media would be infringing upon free speech rights in general.
However, these proposed changes would unravel Twitter’s recent efforts to reduce harmful content and abuse. There are widespread concerns that Musk’s nonrestrictive stances would increase hate speech on the platform. Additionally, removing guardrails surrounding user-generated content would conflict with broader policy pushes against Big Tech. Last month, EU officials approved legislation mandating that big tech companies increase control over hate speech and disinformation.
2. More rigorous vetting and removal of spam botnets and fake user accounts.
However, botnets and fake users accounts will not be protected under Musk’s free speech policies. In fact, he has repeatedly stated his intention to increase scrutinization and removal of accounts created by automated bots. The agreement between Twitter and Musk is reportedly paused as a result of the latter’s insistence on receiving accurate calculations regarding the presence of phony accounts on the site. Twitter has previously underrepresented the proliferation of fake accounts on its platform.
3. Less advertising, both on platform and in company revenue.
In 2020, advertising constituted approximately 90% of Twitter’s total revenue. Musk intends to cut that in half in an effort to reduce the company’s dependence on advertising. This financial move may also be a result of his objectives to increase autonomy on the platform for individual users. Musk appears to envision a Twitter in which users have much more control over their own feed.
4. More efficient product development, particularly regarding company payments businesses.
Under Musk’s leadership, Twitter’s product teams might experience a much faster-paced working environment. Indeed, the business magnate has advocated for faster product development at the company, particularly its payments businesses. According to a presentation given by Musk to company investors, he intends to achieve $15 million in revenue from digital payments services on Twitter’s platform.
Digital Dynamist or Brazen Billionaire?
Should the purchase agreement between Musk and Twitter resume, the company’s shareholders estimate that the deal will take 3-6 months to close. This means that Twitter as both employees and users know it could be drastically changed by the end of the fiscal year.
The lingering question for many remains: Why does Elon Musk want Twitter? Answers to this question have varied from stances on Musk’s perceived ego to his apparent political motives to simply “because he can.”
The truth is that Musk’s decision seems to be less about politics and more about free speech and innovation. In his op-ed for The New York Times, Ross Douthat deemed Musk a “dynamist,” or someone who prioritizes continuous innovation and transformation above anything else. As mentioned earlier, Musk is a serial entrepreneur who is driven by constant change. He is passionate about free speech, pushing societal norms and challenging traditional ways of thinking. For Musk, Twitter is the “digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.” Therefore, he sees Twitter as a platform that fosters new ideas and approaches to problem solving.
E pluribus unum (“Out of many, one”)
That said, a larger problem remains unaddressed, an issue even larger than Musk’s many companies or billion-dollar fortune. And that problem is rooted in the fact that a single individual can potentially have legal ownership of a technological powerhouse like Twitter. Technology forms the crux of the modern human experience, and to place it in the hands of any one person means that individual has control over public discourse, mass consumption of information, and global perceptions of what is real and what is not.
The world is now one in which news is transitioning from printing presses in favor of online publication, traditional intellectual discourse is leaving brick-and-mortar institutions in favor of digital platforms, and human reality is crossing from naturalized experience to algorithmic certainty. This is not about Elon Musk, nor is about Jeff Bezos’ ownership of The Washington Post or Patrick Soon-Shiong’s purchase of the Los Angeles Times. It is about whether the user experience can and should be piloted by one person. Maybe it can, maybe it can’t. But perhaps this puzzle should be addressed before the next Elon Musk prepares to shape how the larger populace interacts with the digital world.
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