Analyst says extremists will benefit from buying Twitter Mask

(CNN Spanish) – Elon Musk has insisted that one of his goals is to buy Twitter and he And it’s real, is to promote freedom of expression. But what does this mean? One analyst believes that Musk could do so with “very few rules” and that his administration could benefit extremists and populists.

According to a report The New York Times And other media, a deal for the richest man in the world to control Twitter was imminent, days after he announced that he had raised $46.5 billion to fund the purchase of the social network.

This announcement had a history: Less than a month ago, Musk said he had acquired a 9.1% stake in the company and made clear his vision on the need to change the platform.

“I invested in Twitter because I believe it can be a platform for freedom of expression around the world,” Musk said in a speech posted on Twitter. “I believe that freedom of expression is a social imperative for a functioning democracy.” “However, since I made my investment, I now realize that the company will not thrive or meet this social necessity in its current form. Twitter has to be turned private,” he added.

Freedom of Expression ‘With Too Few Rules’

Carlos Barra, a professor in the Department of Information Systems and Business Analysis at the University of Florida, believes that Musk “will promote freedom of expression the way he wants, with very few rules.”

Image copyright Suzanne Cordeiro / AFP / Getty Images Image caption Elon Musk during an event in Austin, Texas, on April 7, 2022

“When he says he wants to make it private (on Twitter), it’s because he doesn’t like much to hear what investors have to say. And I don’t think he would care much if users and employees gave up on him as well,” he says. . This means that his promotion of freedom of interest would be “with low regard to the preferences of interest groups”.

He says this “would be beneficial to a minority of extremist and populist users,” but not to the majority of users he calls the “exhausted majority,” who are already familiar with the polarization caused by social media.

Although the analyst did not mention specific examples, Twitter has a well-known policy to enforce, for example, against cases of misinformation or from hate speech, Policies under which it takes actions ranging from warning letters to suspending accounts.

In this sense, Barra sees it may be a very different process from that of Jeff Bezos, one of the richest men on the planet, by buying Washington Postbecause he let the newspaper continue “the common thread and line of work it was doing.”

The perks of being a billionaire

Twitter Board of Directors met on sunday To evaluate Musk’s offer to buy all shares of the company, which he does not currently own, for $54.2 per share, a source familiar with the deal confirmed to CNN. The source indicated that discussions about Musk’s offer are serious.

In the days following Musk’s offer, Twitter’s board of directors applied a so-called “toxic pill,” which would make it difficult for the billionaire to take over the company without her approval. There were also questions about whether the company would try to find another buyer. However, reports now indicate that the agreement could come as soon as Monday.

“The advantage of being millionaires is that an investment of this kind makes them realize it can go well or it can be very bad,” Barra explains. “It’s not something that I think Elon Musk is hoping to make a big comeback with. He’s just saying, ‘I have a vision for how Twitter is going I think and I’m going to implement it, regardless of whether it’s a good business or not.'”

What benefit could indicate that Twitter is in the hands of the CEO of SpaceX? Barra believes it will “make us more aware of the importance of getting news and information from places where there are editors, where there are people checking data and facts and where emotions and arousal are not of paramount importance.”

With information from Claire Duffy of CNN.