If you think the previous goals imposed by the Elliott Group were absurd, then this blows that right out of the water. It’s ridiculously optimistic, regardless of the angle you look at it. However, given Musk’s track record with his other companies, no one dares to dismiss his plans right away. Perhaps he sees something that we don’t?
What Lies Beneath
Based on what Musk has outlined so far, the pathway is far from clear, but at least it’s starting to gain direction. Today, in an interview at the Financial Times ‘Future of The Car’ conference, Musk provided these new notes about his plans, including:
Musk believes that Twitter has a strong left bias given that it’s based in San Francisco. He also believes that not many Twitter employees notice this due to where they’re located.
Musk restated his plans to open-source Twitter’s Feed algorithm, saying that, if allowed, he would literally put Twitter’s algorithm on GitHub and go “Hey, anyone want to suggest changes to this? Please go ahead.”
Musk indicated that, based on what he’s seen, he would likely restore former President Trump’s account, as permanent bans, for him, are ‘not effective’ in a vast majority of cases.
That last point is what most people latch onto – ever since Musk announced his plan to buy out Twitter, right-wing lackeys have been lauding the deal as a win for ‘Free Speech’. Twitter itself has been working for years to establish a fair and reasonable moderation process, but in Musk’s view, banning Trump’s account was out of line – something that former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey agrees with. Apparently, Dorsey had reservations about the decision at the time, aligning with Musk’s present concerns. This will likely mark a pivotal moment of Twitter’s newest ‘Elon Musk Era’.
Trump had close to 90 million followers on Twitter before he was banned. Although he says that he won’t be coming back, Trump has been working on establishing his own social network named Truth Social. Given his reach and influence on Twitter, we’re confident that he’ll reconsider his initial statements if Musk does reinstate his account.
Putting aside the Trump issue, here’s what Musk had to say about Twitter’s current moderation approach:
“If [Twitter users] say something that is illegal or otherwise just destructive to the world, then there should be perhaps a timeout, a temporary suspension, or that particular tweet should be made invisible or have very limited traction. I think if there are tweets that are wrong and bad, those should be either deleted or made invisible, and a suspension, a temporary suspension is appropriate but not a permanent ban.”
While he surely has a stronger grasp on the real issues at play, it does seem, based on the above statement, that he still has a way to go in understanding the implications and repercussions of amplified negative social media messaging.
In any case, Musk does believe in a form of moderation, which he says he’ll work to align with each region. He recently met up with Thierry Breton, The European Commissioner for Internal Markets to discuss his EU content moderation plans. While this does appear to be a more ‘hands-off’ approach, certain issues would still arise, such as Musk’s free speech stance being diluted by more extreme elements or how his new Twitter will respond to the Chinese Government’s content removal requests. He won’t be able to downright refuse, on account that Tesla is heavily reliant on Chinese manufacturing to maintain operations.
The Wrap
The deal with Musk’s free speech approach can cause many to scratch their heads, especially if you consider the socio-political dynamics at play. While allowing unbiased opinions to be posted and shared online is one thing, it’s another entirely when regional compliance comes in.
Either way, Musk will have a lot of work to do if he’s serious about achieving serious growth in the next 2 or 3 years, including building interest for the app and effectively monetizing its channels.
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