Elon Musk takes over Twitter: Whats next for the to-be privately held company
After months of lawsuits and allegations, Elon Musk is now in charge of the popular microblogging platform Twitter. Both parties finalised the deal on Thursday evening; since then, a lot has been happening in Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters. We know that Musk fired three of Twitter’s top executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal, CFO Neg Segal, and head of legal Vijaya Gadde. In addition, Sean Edgett, the general counsel, has also been laid off. Following that, “Chief Twit” also posted another tweet saying, “let the good times roll,’ a nod to his acquisition of the platform that liberated it from the restrictions and limitations.
Twitter files for delisting from the New York Stock Exchange
According to a report by New York Times, Twitter has filed regulatory documents to remove its share from the New York Stock Exchange. To recall, the company has been publically listed for nine years. It is easier to handle a private company whose shares are not accessible to the public; that is exactly what Musk plans to do.
At 11:48 PM IST on October 28, 2022, Musk tweeted, “Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints.” The self-acclaimed free-speed absolutist also said, “No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.” Earlier today, he clarified that he has yet to make any changes to Twitter’s content moderation policies.
Did Musk play a role in bringing Kanye West back to Twitter?
Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints.
No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022
Meanwhile, Kanye West is back on Twitter. However, contrary to what the majority of the reports claim, a New York Times report mentions that his account “was never banned in the first place.” Instead, Twitter restricted his account after Kanye posted an antisemitic tweet, which was taken down as well. Upon being asked on Twitter, Musk said that Twitter restored Kanye’s account before the acquisition occurred. The team did not consult or inform him about the same.
It is speculated that former US president Donald Trump’s account might be unbanned soon. When Trump’s account was banned in January 2021, Elon said, “I think that was a mistake because it alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice.” Amidst all the chaos, Elon tweeted earlier today that “Comedy is now legal on Twitter.” As seen on Twitter, netizens are asking Elon to free the accounts banned on the platform.
In the coming time, we are to see some significant reforms in how Twitter functions as a platform, both internally and for the end-user. Addressing the advertisers, Elon recently said that “Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellspace, where anything can be said with no consequences!“ However, he also said that highly relevant ads are “actually content.” Last but not least, Musk wants Twitter to be “as broadly inclusive as possible.”
Comedy is now legal on Twitter
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022
