"This isn't just some corporate takeover," said one critic. "This is about a set of very specific moves that our oligarchs have been taking that have gradually concentrated economic, political, and discursive power in fewer and fewer hands."
Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who purchased Twitter for $44 billion on April 25, 2022, is seen in Grünheide near Berlin, Germany.
(Photo: Patrick Pleul/ Pool/Getty Images)
JULIA CONLEY
"Tax the rich," Garcia said on Twitter.
Musk's purchase has led to concern that former President Donald Trump's Twitter account will be reinstated. Trump was banned from the platform in January 2021 after violating its rules by inciting his followers to violently attack the U.S. Capitol in an effort to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election results.
"With control of such a massive platform comes great responsibility—and Musk hasn't shown he has the capacity to be accountable to this diverse online community."
"Musk hasn't just purchased another expensive play toy, but a global online community that includes about 330 million regular users," said Jessica Gonzalez, co-CEO of Free Press.
"With control of such a massive platform comes great responsibility—and Musk hasn't shown he has the capacity to be accountable to this diverse online community," she added, noting Musk's own history of using Twitter to "intimidate and disparage others, including journalists, elected officials, owners of competing businesses and anyone else who might challenge his views."
With Musk at the helm, said Gonzalez, Twitter must improve its content moderation practices and "stop amplifying bigotry and conspiracy theories that pollute public discourse, threaten the health and safety of users, and undermine democracy."
Musk has criticized Twitter's efforts to moderate the platform, saying early this month that he believes "it's just really important that people have the reality and the perception that they’re able to speak freely within the bounds of the law" and that "the civilizational risk is decreased the more we can increase the trust of Twitter as a public platform."
Journalist Anand Giridharadas said that by taking over Twitter and claiming he'll protect the platform as "the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated," Musk is "doing is what plutocrats have been doing... branding themselves the solution to the very problem they are."
"This isn't just some corporate takeover," said Giridharadas. "This is about a set of very specific moves that our oligarchs have been taking that have gradually concentrated economic, political, and discursive power in fewer and fewer hands."
As Media Matters reported Monday, right-wing politicians in the U.S. have been in favor of Musk's purchase since he first offered to buy the platform earlier this month. On Friday, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) led 18 House Republicans in writing to Twitter's board of directors, demanding that the board preserve all records related to Musk's bid.
"The right's propagandists had celebrated Musk's bid as a way to garner political gain by ending the company's purported political censorship," reported senior fellow Matt Gertz. "Then its elected GOP champions, responding to hesitation from and when Twitter's board, raised the prospect of a costly congressional investigation if his offer wasn't accepted."
While Twitter was a large and powerful company before Musk's takeover was announced, said Sana Saeed of Al Jazeera, the purchase "does underscore an unnerving trend—the ability of a single man to purchase something that impacts hundreds of millions (beyond users) in order to influence it in his own image."
"It's less than great when billionaires own sports teams—which bind communities together—as their playthings," said Robert Weissman, president of consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. "Having a billionaire own Twitter—a vital platform for communication and community—as his plaything is far more serious. It's a real threat to democracy."
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
JULIA CONLEY
April 25, 2022
Rights advocates, public health experts, and media critics were among those on Monday who warned that the purchase of Twitter by mega-billionaire Elon Musk, the world's richest person, creates a direct threat to democracy and the common good by putting the outsized power of the social media platform used by hundreds of millions worldwide into the hands of one man.
The social media company accepted Musk's offer to purchase Twitter for $44 billion, or $54.20 per share—leading some critics to note other ways the enormous sum of money could have been spent rather than on what Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.) called "a vanity project boondoggle to silence" Musk's critics.
Rights advocates, public health experts, and media critics were among those on Monday who warned that the purchase of Twitter by mega-billionaire Elon Musk, the world's richest person, creates a direct threat to democracy and the common good by putting the outsized power of the social media platform used by hundreds of millions worldwide into the hands of one man.
The social media company accepted Musk's offer to purchase Twitter for $44 billion, or $54.20 per share—leading some critics to note other ways the enormous sum of money could have been spent rather than on what Rep. Chuy Garcia (D-Ill.) called "a vanity project boondoggle to silence" Musk's critics.
"Tax the rich," Garcia said on Twitter.
Musk's purchase has led to concern that former President Donald Trump's Twitter account will be reinstated. Trump was banned from the platform in January 2021 after violating its rules by inciting his followers to violently attack the U.S. Capitol in an effort to stop the certification of the 2020 presidential election results.
"With control of such a massive platform comes great responsibility—and Musk hasn't shown he has the capacity to be accountable to this diverse online community."
"Musk hasn't just purchased another expensive play toy, but a global online community that includes about 330 million regular users," said Jessica Gonzalez, co-CEO of Free Press.
"With control of such a massive platform comes great responsibility—and Musk hasn't shown he has the capacity to be accountable to this diverse online community," she added, noting Musk's own history of using Twitter to "intimidate and disparage others, including journalists, elected officials, owners of competing businesses and anyone else who might challenge his views."
With Musk at the helm, said Gonzalez, Twitter must improve its content moderation practices and "stop amplifying bigotry and conspiracy theories that pollute public discourse, threaten the health and safety of users, and undermine democracy."
Musk has criticized Twitter's efforts to moderate the platform, saying early this month that he believes "it's just really important that people have the reality and the perception that they’re able to speak freely within the bounds of the law" and that "the civilizational risk is decreased the more we can increase the trust of Twitter as a public platform."
Journalist Anand Giridharadas said that by taking over Twitter and claiming he'll protect the platform as "the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated," Musk is "doing is what plutocrats have been doing... branding themselves the solution to the very problem they are."
"This isn't just some corporate takeover," said Giridharadas. "This is about a set of very specific moves that our oligarchs have been taking that have gradually concentrated economic, political, and discursive power in fewer and fewer hands."
As Media Matters reported Monday, right-wing politicians in the U.S. have been in favor of Musk's purchase since he first offered to buy the platform earlier this month. On Friday, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) led 18 House Republicans in writing to Twitter's board of directors, demanding that the board preserve all records related to Musk's bid.
"The right's propagandists had celebrated Musk's bid as a way to garner political gain by ending the company's purported political censorship," reported senior fellow Matt Gertz. "Then its elected GOP champions, responding to hesitation from and when Twitter's board, raised the prospect of a costly congressional investigation if his offer wasn't accepted."
While Twitter was a large and powerful company before Musk's takeover was announced, said Sana Saeed of Al Jazeera, the purchase "does underscore an unnerving trend—the ability of a single man to purchase something that impacts hundreds of millions (beyond users) in order to influence it in his own image."
"It's less than great when billionaires own sports teams—which bind communities together—as their playthings," said Robert Weissman, president of consumer advocacy group Public Citizen. "Having a billionaire own Twitter—a vital platform for communication and community—as his plaything is far more serious. It's a real threat to democracy."
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Progressive Twitter accounts lose followers, conservatives gain
2022/4/27
© Agence France-Presse
2022/4/26
© Agence France-Presse
2022/4/27
© Agence France-Presse
Elon Musk has struck a deal to purchase Twitter for $44 billion
San Francisco (AFP) - Key figures on the American left, Barack Obama among them, have shed thousands of followers since Elon Musk's planned purchase of Twitter emerged, while numbers have soared for right-wing politicians.
Musk, the world's richest man, struck a deal Monday to buy the US-based social media platform for $44 billion.
The news was greeted with enthusiasm by fans of Musk, who calls himself a free speech absolutist, and horror by proponents of strong moderation of disinformation and hate speech.
Promises to leave the platform trended under hashtags such as #LeaveTwitter. Within hours, many appeared to be following through.
Former US president Obama, the most popular person on Twitter with more than 131 million followers, lost 300,000 of them nearly overnight, according to news outlet NBC.
Controversial Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, by contrast, gained nearly 100,000 to her official congressional Twitter account in just 24 hours.
Greene, a vocal ally of former president Donald Trump whose personal profile was banned by the platform, praised the acquisition.
"Prepare for blue check mark full scale meltdown after @elonmusk seals the deal and I should get my personal Twitter account restored," she tweeted, referencing the site's system for verifying users.
"It really is something how conservative accounts are getting massive follower increases today," Republican Representative Matt Gaetz, another Trump ally, said Tuesday.
Twitter on Tuesday told AFP that while they were monitoring the situation, the fluctuations appeared to be organic and largely due to new accounts being created and existing ones deactivated.
The exodus extended beyond political accounts.
"It's strange to see a loss of some 35,000 followers overnight," the Auschwitz Memorial account posted Tuesday. The profile, which has 1.3 million followers, tweets photos and stories of concentration camp victims.
Musk has said he wants to increase trust in Twitter, which he sees as a digital town square for free speech and debate.
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey tweeted Monday that "Elon's goal of creating a platform that is 'maximally trusted and broadly inclusive' is the right one."
He thanked Musk and Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal "for getting the company out of an impossible situation.
"This is the right path...I believe it with all my heart."
Free speech or hate speech? Fears for Musk's Twitter
San Francisco (AFP) - Key figures on the American left, Barack Obama among them, have shed thousands of followers since Elon Musk's planned purchase of Twitter emerged, while numbers have soared for right-wing politicians.
Musk, the world's richest man, struck a deal Monday to buy the US-based social media platform for $44 billion.
The news was greeted with enthusiasm by fans of Musk, who calls himself a free speech absolutist, and horror by proponents of strong moderation of disinformation and hate speech.
Promises to leave the platform trended under hashtags such as #LeaveTwitter. Within hours, many appeared to be following through.
Former US president Obama, the most popular person on Twitter with more than 131 million followers, lost 300,000 of them nearly overnight, according to news outlet NBC.
Controversial Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, by contrast, gained nearly 100,000 to her official congressional Twitter account in just 24 hours.
Greene, a vocal ally of former president Donald Trump whose personal profile was banned by the platform, praised the acquisition.
"Prepare for blue check mark full scale meltdown after @elonmusk seals the deal and I should get my personal Twitter account restored," she tweeted, referencing the site's system for verifying users.
"It really is something how conservative accounts are getting massive follower increases today," Republican Representative Matt Gaetz, another Trump ally, said Tuesday.
Twitter on Tuesday told AFP that while they were monitoring the situation, the fluctuations appeared to be organic and largely due to new accounts being created and existing ones deactivated.
The exodus extended beyond political accounts.
"It's strange to see a loss of some 35,000 followers overnight," the Auschwitz Memorial account posted Tuesday. The profile, which has 1.3 million followers, tweets photos and stories of concentration camp victims.
Musk has said he wants to increase trust in Twitter, which he sees as a digital town square for free speech and debate.
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey tweeted Monday that "Elon's goal of creating a platform that is 'maximally trusted and broadly inclusive' is the right one."
He thanked Musk and Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal "for getting the company out of an impossible situation.
"This is the right path...I believe it with all my heart."
Free speech or hate speech? Fears for Musk's Twitter
2022/4/26
© Agence France-Presse
In this file photo taken on April 14, 2022 In this photo illustration, a phone screen displays the Twitter account of Elon Musk with a photo of him shown in the background, on April 14, 2022, in Washington, DC
New York (AFP) - Elon Musk describes himself as a "free-speech absolutist," leaving rights groups fearful that Twitter will provide a forum for hate speech and disinformation under his ownership.
The world's richest man has signaled that, following his $44 billion takeover, he intends to reform what he sees as over-zealous policing of tweets.
Civil activists are worried that means Musk, 50, will allow banned extremists back to the platform.
"The last thing we need is a Twitter that willfully turns a blind eye to violent and abusive speech against users, particularly those most disproportionately impacted, including such as women, non-binary persons, and others," Michael Kleinman, technology and human rights director at Amnesty International USA, said in a statement.
Like other social media networks, Twitter has struggled against disinformation, bullying and hate-fuelled content in recent years.
It has banned numerous users for promoting violence or threatening or attacking people based on their race, religion, gender identity or disability, among other forms of discrimination.
High-profile people removed from the platform include former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, and ex-president Donald Trump.
Twitter has also cracked down on lies about Covid-19 and removed thousands of accounts linked to the far-right "QAnon" movement, whose followers believe Trump is waging a secret war against a global liberal cult of Satan-worshipping pedophiles.
Many conspiracy theorists joined newer, far-right-friendly platforms such as Gab and Parler.
Trump, who was banned after the assault on the US Capitol by his supporters on January 6 last year as they sought to overturn the 2020 US presidential election result, vowed not to return to Twitter even if Musk reinstated him.
But conservatives, who have long complained about social media platforms being run by Silicon Valley-based liberals, are heralding libertarian Musk's deal.
"I am hopeful that Elon Musk will help rein in Big Tech's history of censoring users that have a different viewpoint," tweeted Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn.
Derrick Johnson, CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), said that while "free speech is wonderful, hate speech is unacceptable."
"Do not allow Twitter to become a petri dish for hate speech, or falsehoods that subvert our democracy. Protecting our democracy is of utmost importance, especially as the midterm elections approach," he said.
Moderation
In Brussels, the International Federation of Journalists echoed that call, expressed concern that the billionaire would damage media freedoms "by exacerbating opportunities to attack journalists" on the site.
IFJ general secretary Anthony Bellanger said Twitter, which has 400 million users, "must be duly moderated, while respecting freedom of speech."
Experts say that once at the helm, Musk may find that staying true to his free speech instincts isn't so simple.
In the European Union for example, Twitter will have to comply with the new Digital Services Act, a major piece of EU legislation ensuring tougher consequences when platforms host banned content.
"He's going to have to have some form of content moderation policy. That's going to be challenging for Musk," New York University politics and media expert Joshua Tucker told AFP.
The entrepreneur will also be wary about making too many changes that contribute to users flocking away from the site, analysts say.
"If it becomes a place of hateful content and it chases away journalists, then it loses its value," Karen North, professor of digital social media at the Annenberg journalism school in California told AFP.
Musk has not specified exactly what restrictions he intends to roll back, but stated in a tweet Tuesday that he is "against censorship that goes far beyond the law."
"If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws to that effect. Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people," he added.
New York (AFP) - Elon Musk describes himself as a "free-speech absolutist," leaving rights groups fearful that Twitter will provide a forum for hate speech and disinformation under his ownership.
The world's richest man has signaled that, following his $44 billion takeover, he intends to reform what he sees as over-zealous policing of tweets.
Civil activists are worried that means Musk, 50, will allow banned extremists back to the platform.
"The last thing we need is a Twitter that willfully turns a blind eye to violent and abusive speech against users, particularly those most disproportionately impacted, including such as women, non-binary persons, and others," Michael Kleinman, technology and human rights director at Amnesty International USA, said in a statement.
Like other social media networks, Twitter has struggled against disinformation, bullying and hate-fuelled content in recent years.
It has banned numerous users for promoting violence or threatening or attacking people based on their race, religion, gender identity or disability, among other forms of discrimination.
High-profile people removed from the platform include former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, and ex-president Donald Trump.
Twitter has also cracked down on lies about Covid-19 and removed thousands of accounts linked to the far-right "QAnon" movement, whose followers believe Trump is waging a secret war against a global liberal cult of Satan-worshipping pedophiles.
Many conspiracy theorists joined newer, far-right-friendly platforms such as Gab and Parler.
Trump, who was banned after the assault on the US Capitol by his supporters on January 6 last year as they sought to overturn the 2020 US presidential election result, vowed not to return to Twitter even if Musk reinstated him.
But conservatives, who have long complained about social media platforms being run by Silicon Valley-based liberals, are heralding libertarian Musk's deal.
"I am hopeful that Elon Musk will help rein in Big Tech's history of censoring users that have a different viewpoint," tweeted Republican Senator Marsha Blackburn.
Derrick Johnson, CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), said that while "free speech is wonderful, hate speech is unacceptable."
"Do not allow Twitter to become a petri dish for hate speech, or falsehoods that subvert our democracy. Protecting our democracy is of utmost importance, especially as the midterm elections approach," he said.
Moderation
In Brussels, the International Federation of Journalists echoed that call, expressed concern that the billionaire would damage media freedoms "by exacerbating opportunities to attack journalists" on the site.
IFJ general secretary Anthony Bellanger said Twitter, which has 400 million users, "must be duly moderated, while respecting freedom of speech."
Experts say that once at the helm, Musk may find that staying true to his free speech instincts isn't so simple.
In the European Union for example, Twitter will have to comply with the new Digital Services Act, a major piece of EU legislation ensuring tougher consequences when platforms host banned content.
"He's going to have to have some form of content moderation policy. That's going to be challenging for Musk," New York University politics and media expert Joshua Tucker told AFP.
The entrepreneur will also be wary about making too many changes that contribute to users flocking away from the site, analysts say.
"If it becomes a place of hateful content and it chases away journalists, then it loses its value," Karen North, professor of digital social media at the Annenberg journalism school in California told AFP.
Musk has not specified exactly what restrictions he intends to roll back, but stated in a tweet Tuesday that he is "against censorship that goes far beyond the law."
"If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws to that effect. Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people," he added.
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