The Facts:

On October 27th, Elon Musk purchased Twitter for 44 billion dollars. This has caused quite a stir recently for a few reasons, the first being that he has made a policy to try and “protect free speech”. This would include loosening guidelines and rules surrounding content that is posted. Many people have been uneasy about this, as they believe that he might remove crucial guidelines, or unban certain people. On the other hand, some people believe that he will make Twitter more inclusive, or free to share opinions. Musk stated earlier that he plans to put a “content moderating committee” into place to make sure that content is appropriate for the platform. According to the company, he hasn’t started any unbanning as of the moment, although he has plans to.

Certain advertisers have expressed their concerns about Musk’s new leadership, and some have gone so far as to completely back out of their deals with Twitter. Because a huge majority of Twitter’s profit comes from advertising, it is quite an issue for the brand as of the moment. Musk is hoping to win them back, or find new deals in order to keep profits stable. 

This has posed many issues, and has led Musk to tighten policies around work. He has talked about limiting or completely removing the option to work remotely at Twitter. Musk has discussed changing videos on the platform, and how they are received. Musk believes that video views will bring more view time and profit to the company. So far, things aren’t looking up for the future of Twitter, as Musk himself has warned certain executives to back out, while also asking workers to double their motivation to increase profits. 

My Opinion On This Topic:

Free speech is the American and human right to be able to speak freely about your opinions without being punished by the government, but this certainly does not secure the right to say whatever you want on social media platforms, since this can cause major issues. One example of this is that certain people in power can misuse social media and spread misinformation to their supporters. This kind of thing should not be tolerated on social media platforms for many reasons. Musk has expressed interest in unbanning people like this. The first reason that this is unacceptable is tone. When people say things that can be interpreted as dangerous, it is completely up to the reader’s interpretation, as no one is there to make clarifications, or indicate sarcasm. This can lead to people making uneducated, or dangerous  decisions, and possibly sharing false information further.

Elon Musk has only had control over Twitter for a short amount of time so far, but if he wants to maintain profit in his company, he will have to win back sponsors and be careful with his new policies. As time passes, I am curious to see how Musk procedes with Twitter policies. As of now, Twitter is facing the threat of going bankrupt, and Musk’s new leadership is pushing the company closer to it by the minute.

Cites: https://www.timeforkids.com/g56/musk-buys-twitter-g5-8-plus/?rl=en-890 

https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/10/23452196/elon-musk-twitter-employee-meeting-q-and-a

https://news.sky.com/story/elon-musk-says-hes-buying-twitter-to-help-humanity-and-not-to-make-more-money-12731500