Elon Musk says Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company to build trust with users and do better at serving the "societal imperative" of free speech. Photo / Photo/Susan Walsh, AP, File
Elon Musk says Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company to build trust with users and do better at serving the "societal imperative" of free speech. Photo / Photo/Susan Walsh, AP, File
Editorial
EDITORIAL:
Billionaire Elon Musk has reached an agreement to acquire Twitter for approximately US$44 billion ($66.4b), the company confirmed this week, triggering shudders from hate-speech opponents.
The Tesla CEO, and the world's wealthiest person, has said he wanted to buy Twitter because he thinks it wasn't living up to its potential as a platform for "free speech".
Musk describes himself as a "free-speech absolutist", although he hasn't offered details of what that means. But, in one TED interview, the billionaire said he'd like to see Twitter err on the side of allowing speech instead of moderating it.
The editorial board of the Wall Street Journal described the move as "a gamble that could break Silicon Valley's culture of progressive conformity".
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The New York Times stated, "loosening content moderation, as Musk appears poised to do, won't make Twitter a better place; that will make it far more toxic".
Musk's stance flies in the face of moves worldwide to mute hate speech and may signal that such moves have either gone too far or have backfired. Only this week, the European Union inked the Digital Services Act, which asks platforms to take down violating material when they learn about it. Rather than outline categories of impermissible speech, the law allows member countries to decide what's legal and what's not.
Internationally, Twitter has the potential for huge influence.
SproutSocial estimates Twitter has 211 million daily active users, with the largest age group being 18-29 (42 per cent), 38.4 per cent of users female and 61.6 per cent male. The average time spent per day is 31 minutes.
Elon Musk buys Twitter in a hostile takeover. Illustration / Rod Emmerson
In New Zealand, as in most territories, Facebook still reigns supreme in the social media stakes. StatCounter estimates Facebook has 66.1 per cent of the New Zealand social media market while Twitter is a distant second at 12.98 per cent.
What also matters is the demographic and what they are there for. An estimated 48 per cent of users are there to access news. This would suggest Twitter users trust it for information on current affairs and analysis of the news.
Returning to Musk's free speech aspirations, one of the most high-profile Twitter episodes was the permanent suspension of former US President Donald Trump's account in January 2021 over a perceived threat that he might incite violence.
Would a "free speech absolutist" also act in this way, and what might have been the outcome if he did not?
Trump credited his Twitter account for aiding his defeat of Hilary Clinton for the presidency. There are few doubts that timely and targeted posts can hold sway over a large audience.
That sway now rests in the single pair of hands of the world's richest person.
Following radicalisation events, including the Christchurch mosque terror attacks, there have been concerted efforts to moderate hateful content. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called for global regulations to establish baseline content, electoral integrity, privacy, and data standards.
If offered a level playing field, will hate win over reason? Twitter may be just about to show us.
