Elon Musk buys twitter for 44 billion to bring free speech back! News Media Companies are Fearful !

#elonmusk #twitter #freespeech

Elon Musk will soon hold the keys to Twitter.

The company announced on Monday that it has accepted the Tesla CEO's $44 billion offer to take the company private. That means the world's richest person who has a penchant for theatrics and erratic behavior is about to have the power to reshape discourse on a social network used by more than 200 million people every day.

How might Musk wield that power?

Here are some proposals for Twitter that he's floated.

Loosen up content rules in the name of free speech
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO describes himself as a "free speech absolutist" and has criticized what he sees as excessive moderation on online platforms.

He nodded to these beliefs in his statement announcing the purchase by saying that "free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated."

Musk has argued that social networks should not remove comments that, while offensive, are still legal. During a recent interview at a TED conference he said, "If it's a gray area, let the tweet exist."

Twitter currently bans harassment, abuse and posts that wish physical harm to someone. The platform has other guardrails too, like a prohibition on misinformation related to COVID-19.

Experts who study social networks fret about Musk's push to loosen the rules of engagement on Twitter. They say that could give license to harassers, trolls and others who abuse the platform to target people.

They also worry relaxing the rules on Twitter will empower those looking to exploit the platform by spreading misinformation, or flat-out lies, about political events, government officials and matters related to public health and safety.