“Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy”: Elon Musk Buys 9% Stake In Twitter
Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX, Tesla, brain-chip startup Neuralink, and The Boring Company put his money where his mouth is and put Silicon Valley on notice by buying a massive stake in Twitter.
Musk has been very critical of the censorship that goes on, whether intentional or via algorithm, on social media and has hinted that he would start a competing social media company. When he posted his intentions many told him to just buy Twitter and fix it instead.
Musk may be on his way to doing that as he now owns 73.5 million Twitter shares which are worth around $2.9 billion based on the stock’s Friday price Twitter founder CEO Jack Dorsey may be a key ally for Musk in his attempt to bring the free back to free speech.
Dorsey said recently:
“The days of usenet, irc, the web…even email (w PGP)…were amazing. centralizing discovery and identity into corporations really damaged the internet.
I realize I’m partially to blame, and regret it.”
Musk said: “Twitter algorithm should be open source.”
Dorsey said:
“The choice of which algorithm to use (or not) should be open to everyone.”
From CNBC:
Outspoken Tesla CEO Elon Musk purchased a giant stake in Twitter that makes him the largest outside shareholder in the social media stock, not long after criticizing the company for failing to uphold the tenets of free speech.
Musk owns 73,486,938 shares of Twitter, which represents a 9.2% passive stake in the company, according to the Securities and Exchange Commission 13G filing released Monday.
The stake is worth $2.89 billion, based Twitter’s closing price on Friday.
The Musk buy comes less than two weeks after Musk criticized the company, polling people on Twitter about whether Twitter adheres to free speech principles.
“Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy,” Musk tweeted. “What should be done?”
Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 26, 2022
What should be done? https://t.co/aPS9ycji37
Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 25, 2022
Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?