By Guy Chapman – Navarro County Gazette
Twitter, the popular social media platform utilized by an average of 200 million users, is about to change.
According to an article by the Associated Press, billionaire Elon Musk finalized an agreement with the social media company to exclusively buy the platform after two weeks of aggressive negotiations with Twitter’s board members.
Listed as the “World’s Wealthiest Person” by Forbes with a nearly $279 billion fortune, Musk is also an avid user of Twitter with a following of more than 83 million users. The billionaire plans to privatize Twitter, citing plans to having a “more lenient touch to policing content on the platform,” stating the social media site is “not living up to its potential as a platform for free speech.”
In addition, the Tesla CEO said in a joint statement with Twitter he wants to make the service “better than ever” with new features, such as getting rid of automated “spam bots” and making its algorithms open to the public to increase trust.
“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 said.
When asked at a recent TED Talk about his concept of “free speech,” Musk said Twitter or any forum is “obviously bound by the laws of the country that it operates in. So obviously there are some limitations on free speech in the US, and, of course, Twitter would have to abide by those rules.” He added that he would be “very reluctant” to delete things, and would be cautious about permanent bans.
Despite Musk’s present claims, what the future will actually hold for Twitter in the months to come will remain to be seen.
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