Elon Musk Twitter Takeover: Some Users Fret Others Celebrate
In the hours after news spread that Elon Musk had finally purchased Twitter , talk quickly turned to the issue of free speech — and how much hate, harassment and extremism will be allowed on the platform moving forward. Musk has previously sparked concerns over his seemingly relaxed attitude towards content moderation , which include his thoughts on reversing Donald Trump’s permanent ban.But shortly before the takeover was finalized, Musk issued a public letter to advertisers, assuring them that he didn’t want the platform to “become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences!”
In one of his first tweets on Friday morning , he celebrated the purchase by writing, “The bird is free.”
He also replied to a Tweet from an account that has spread unfounded claims about the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election, according to NBC News. In response to the user’s concern that Twitter was removing followers and preventing their content from being seen, Musk replied, “I will be digging in more today.”
Another Friday morning Tweet from Musk ? “Let the good times roll.”
Meanwhile, a number of posts filled with racial slurs and hate speech were liked and retweeted thousands of times not long after the deal closed, according to The Washington Post.”Elon now controls twitter. Unleash the racial slurs,” read one message, the outlet reported, while another post boasted, “When you can’t get banned on Twitter anymore.” Several social media users noted that the “trolls feeling explicitly emboldened by Elon to threaten murder and use racist, anti Semitic, and homophobic slurs” likely did not align with the anti-free-for-all-hellscape vision Musk was peddling hours earlier, which Vice pointed out in a report about how some users were testing the platform’s moderation under Twitter ‘s new ownership.
“I’m sure the advertisers are going to love having their ads next to this,” the user wrote.
The Washington Post reported that some of the hateful and explicit messages had been taken down later Friday .
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Some prominent, far-right figures also celebrated Twitter ‘s new era — even before any real changes to the platform were made.
Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose personal Twitter was banned earlier this year after she repeatedly violated the social network’s COVID-19 misinformation policy, responded to the news writing, “FREEDOM OF SPEECH!!!”, “Just wait until tomorrow,” and “We are winning.””I am very happy that Twitter is now in sane hands,” Trump wrote in a post on his own social media platform, Truth Social.While it remains to be seen if and when Trump — or others who have been banned from Twitter — will be allowed to return, Musk did make it clear that no immediate action will be taken.” Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints,” he tweeted on Friday afternoon . “No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.”
While some users are celebrating, others are sharing their concerns.
“Toxic Twitter , that let sink in,” Amnesty International wrote, referencing a post Musk made days earlier. The international non-government organization, which is focused on ending abuses of human rights, pointed out that women, particularly from marginalized groups, can often find themselves targets of abuse.”Seems a bit of a comms issue for Twitter that Musk ‘s takeover has triggered a wave of offensive tweets from people who now think that’s okay thanks to Musk , and no-one seems to know if the reporting system is still used by Twitter , or it’s just a racist and abusive free for all,” tweeted Eliot Higgins, founder of the investigative outlet Bellingcat.Another social media user added: “Racist trolls have seen the bat signal. Actually a pretty limited window for Twitter ‘s new leadership to indicate if this is what they stand for.”For now, it’s a waiting game to see what new policies Twitter will enact, and how they might affect speech on the platform. But one thing is certain: Users on both sides of the debate will be tweeting about it even before changes are announced or implemented.
In the hours after news spread that Elon Musk had finally purchased Twitter, talk quickly turned to the issue of free speech — and how much hate, harassment and extremism will be allowed on the platform moving forward. In response to the user’s concern that Twitter was removing followers and preventing their content from being seen, Musk replied, “I will be digging in more today.”
Several social media users noted that the “trolls feeling explicitly emboldened by Elon to threaten murder and use racist, anti Semitic, and homophobic slurs” likely did not align with the anti-free-for-all-hellscape vision Musk was peddling hours earlier, which Vice pointed out in a report about how some users were testing the platform’s moderation under Twitter’s new ownership.
“I’m sure the advertisers are going to love having their ads next to this,” the user wrote.
“Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints,” he tweeted on Friday afternoon.
