On April 26, U.S. social media company Twitter accepted a $44 billion acquisition offer from billionaire Elon Musk.
In a merger statement issued by Twitter on Monday afternoon, Musk said: "Freedom of speech is the cornerstone of a democratic operation, and Twitter is a digital city square where people can discuss matters that are vital to the future of humanity." He also promised Twitter to add other new features, such as opening up algorithms to increase trust and beating spam bots.
Earlier in April, Musk's regulatory filings, Twitter posts and interviews at the TED conference all revealed his thoughts on Twitter and what he would do if he succeeded in acquiring the social media site used by more than 200 million people around the world.
Musk said at the April 14 TED conference that Twitter is "a de facto city square that is very important to provide an inclusive arena for self-contained speech." Twitter should be more cautious when deciding whether to delete a Tweet or permanently ban users." He thinks it would be better to "pause users."
Musk said Twitter should follow the laws of the countries where it provides its services. "When Twitter makes a change to expand or reduce the number of users reached by a tweet, it should let users know what's going on."
Create an editing feature for tweets
Users have long asked Twitter to set up an edit button. Earlier in April, Musk conducted an investigation into whether Twitter users needed an edit button. More than 4 million accounts participated in the voting, and more than 70% said they would like to. Twitter later said it was already working on an edit button from 2021 onwards.
Take Twitter private
Musk said in a regulatory filing that he wants to take Twitter private. At present, Twitter is still a public company.
Musk said: "Twitter needs to transform into a private company. Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it. That means Twitter will be delisted from the public stock exchange, and without pressure from many shareholders, it may make it easier for Musk to push through the changes he expects on Twitter."
Still, Musk has also said he wants to retain as many shareholders as possible if he succeeds in taking the company private.
Open source Twitter algorithm
Musk suggests an algorithm for open source Twitter, which means that others outside the company will be able to review and suggest fixes and modifications. One way to do that, he says, is to put the code on GitHub, a website for storing software projects.
Musk sent a barrage of tweets over the second weekend of April suggesting that users who paid for Twitter Blue — a subscription service that adds extra functionality to their accounts — ticked to show that their accounts had been "verified." This will be different from the blue check mark, which requires the account to be both authentic and prominent.
Reduce reliance on ads
In a series of tweets published at the same time, Musk also said that Twitter should move to a more subscription-dependent business model. Twitter Blue accounts now have advanced features like "Undo Tweets" for $2.99 per month. Musk suggested that the subscription fee includes blocking all ads. In the fourth quarter of 2021, advertising accounted for about 90% of Twitter's revenue.
He also proposed layoffs and shutting down Twitter's San Francisco headquarters.
Musk tweeted on April 18 that if his bid is successful, he can go unpaid after joining the board, saying the move could save about $3 million a year.
Try to block spam and scam bots
Musk said his first priority is to eliminate the "army of robots" on Twitter that spam accounts and commit scams.
Allow longer tweets
In a Tweet on April 15, Musk advocated for long tweets.
"The most immediate feeling I get from this long tweet line is that Twitter is long overdue!"
In most cases, tweets can contain up to 280 characters, which is double the previous 140-character limit.
The concerns of the left
Prior to this, Twitter's board had made precautions against Musk's merger, and the authorities issued a "poison pill" agreement to prevent a single company from acquiring more than 15% of the shares. But after that, Musk was accused of setting up multiple companies dedicated to mergers and acquisitions and getting enough operating capital. Later, Twitter made the move to accept the initial order, which was significantly higher than Twitter's current market value.
Sources leaking from the White House say officials within the Biden administration are keeping a close eye on the Twitter deal. Some on Biden's team are increasingly worried that Musk will allow Trump and other Republicans banned from twitter, as well as conservative groups, to return to Twitter.
Still, Trump said today that he would not rejoin even if he was invited back to the Twitter platform. Trump said: "I'm not going to twitter, I'm going to stay on TRUTH". "TRUTH" Trump's media company launched a Twitter-like social media platform earlier this year.
Trump also commented: "I hope Musk buys Twitter because he will improve on it, he is a good guy, but I will stay onTRUTH, we are absorbing millions of people, and we find that the response onTRUTH is much better than on Twitter." ”
In addition, several House Republicans welcomed Musk's successful acquisition of Twitter and called on Musk to let Trump return to Twitter. Republican Rep. Jim Jordan said today that he hopes the deal will go smoothly. "I think this deal looks good for shareholders; secondly, it's good for free speech, it's good for the First Amendment."
Republican Rep. Marjorie Greene, who had previously been blocked by Twitter, said after learning of Musk's successful acquisition of Twitter: "I should restore my personal Twitter account." ”
The acquisition has left-wing groups in the United States worried that the speech of conservative groups will not be "technically" restricted in the future. Multiple far-leftists online have threatened to cancel their Twitter accounts in protest against Musk's takeover. The Democratic Party has bluntly said that it will restrict the rights of big tech companies. Today, a White House spokesperson answered a reporter's question about the acquisition, and she said that the power of big technology companies is too big at present and needs to be limited.
It is clear that this time the left-wing Democrats feel threatened, and their long-standing discursive hegemony and moral high ground are being challenged.