What would you do if you were the richest person in the world?
For billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk, who actually holds that title, it would be to take over one of the biggest social media platforms on the internet.
Source: Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images via U.S. News
On 25 Apr, Twitter confirmed that it has accepted Musk’s S$60.4 billion (US$44 billion) offer to buy the company.
Musk has vowed the take the company private and implement various improvements, such as “defeating the spam bots”.
According to the New York Post, Twitter’s board of directors confirmed on 25 Apr that it has accepted Musk’s S$60.4 billion (US$44 billion) offer to buy the social media platform.
The transaction is subject to the approval of Twitter stockholders and other factors, the company clarified in a statement.
Source: Jeremy Bezanger on Unsplash
Reuters reports that deal negotiations between Twitter and Musk kicked off on 24 Apr. This took place after he managed to get the support of the company’s shareholders with financing details of his offer.
Musk will reportedly pay S$74 (US$54.20) per share for Twitter. He also intends to take the company private and implement various changes to the platform.
According to Reuters, Musk has always been openly critical of Twitter’s moderation, stating that their algorithm for prioritising tweets should be made public.
In a tweet on 26 Apr, Musk shared his quote from Twitter’s statement calling free speech “the bedrock of a functioning democracy”.
He also described Twitter as “the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated”.
Source: Elon Musk on Twitter
His plans to enhance Twitter include “making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans”.
Forbes lists Musk as the world’s richest person with a net worth of S$368.1 billion (US$268.2 billion). The main source of his wealth comes from electric vehicle maker Tesla, as well as aerospace company SpaceX.
The news of Musk acquiring Twitter drew both positive and negative reactions from netizens.
While conversatives in America welcome the idea of a platform that’s less regulated, others are concerned that the changes will allow disinformation and hate speech to spread.
Some groups have also warned against reinstating Donald Trump‘s Twitter account, which was suspended in January 2021. However, the former U.S. president has stated that he has no intentions of returning to the platform.
Only time will tell what kind of outcome Musk’s planned changes to Twitter will yield.
However, regardless of who owns a platform and how its regulations are like, we should all endeavour to only share information from trusted sources and refrain from other damaging social media practices.
This is one small way we can change things — and we don’t even need billions of dollars to do it.
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Featured image adapted from Wikipedia and Jeremy Bezanger on Unsplash.
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