Elon Musk has officially taken over Twitter for $44 billion, ushering in an uncertain new era for the platform, its affiliates and employees, now under the leadership of the world’s richest, most divisive man.
“Let the party begin,” tweeted Friday the Tesla and SpaceX owner, following his Thursday tweet: “the bird is free,” after having fired the management team of the US social media company.
US giant General Motors, America’s largest car manufacturer said Friday that it was temporarily stopping paying for ads on Twitter, becoming the first major advertiser to question its presence on the social network.
“We are talking with Twitter to understand the direction of the platform under its new owner,” explained the group, a direct competitor of Tesla.
Elon Musk has set himself up as the ultimate defender of freedom of expression, raising fears of a resurgence of abuse on the app, after its teams took drastic measures against prominent bullies and racists using the platform.
Musk welcomed back US President Donald Trump, ousted from Twitter after encouraging his supporters who took part in the assault on the Capitol back in January 2021.
On Friday, the new billionaire owner tried to reassure audiences by announcing the upcoming launch of a “content moderation council with very diverse views.”
“No major decision on content or account reactivation will take place without the intervention of the council,” said Musk.
Elon Musk had until Friday to conclude the acquisition of the social network, otherwise a trial was to take place in November.
The acquisition has been lagging since late April, when Twitter had reluctantly accepted the acquisition offer, who then sought to extract himself from it.
The company’s board of directors then took the matter to court, and earlier this month, just days before the start of a trial that Twitter seemed well on its way to winning, Elon Musk finally proposed to close the deal at the initially agreed upon price.
On Thursday, Elon Musk tried to clarify his vision, saying he wanted to allow all opinions to be expressed on the site, without making it a “hellish” platform where everything would be allowed.
It is “important for the future of civilization to have a public place online where a wide variety of opinions can be debated in a healthy way, without resorting to violence,” he wrote in a message specifically addressed to advertisers.
Twitter, which had 238 million active daily users at the end of June, attracts a smaller audience than a giant Facebook, but many policymakers, businesses and media are active on the platform. According to several US media outlets, Musk is planning to lay off thousands of employees of the group.
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