Opinion: Why Elon Musk just spent $4b buying a big chunk of Twitter
. But I suspect there’s something more serious informing Musk’s decision to invest in Twitter, even if he revels in buffoonery: Maybe he wants to bring Twitter to heel.
Consider the poll he conducted 10 days ago. “Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy,” it says. “Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?” More than two million users responded to that question, with 70.4 per cent of them voting “no.
So despite ample room in which to exercise his speech — and aggressively trying to curtail the free speech of some of his critics — Musk evidently feels aggrieved. What’s not clear is why Twitter is his target.His Twitter rants and raves have been wide-ranging and unfettered. He once tweeted, then deleted, a meme comparing Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to Hitler. He’s tweeted transphobic memes. He’s slagged aThat’s a lot of free speech, and Twitter hasn’t done a lot to curtail it.
One explanation for Musk’s sensitivity might be found in his libertarian leanings. Belated efforts by social media platforms to constrain some of the most virulent forms of political propaganda have raised the hackles of that crowd . Now Musk has at least fired a shot across Twitter’s bow by purchasing 9.2 per cent of its stock — which is also much less expensive than doing the same to Facebook .Does Musk want to take over Twitter? I don’t think so.
That’s worrisome, because it’s not ideal to have a free speech absolutist who isn’t absolutely in favour of free speech at the helm of — or even close to — a media company. Musk has already received a nice pop on his Twitter stake. The shares jumped 26 per cent on Monday after his investment was disclosed in a regulatory filing. He’ll stick around longer, of course, and speculation that Twitter may be in play will further inflate his holdings.But Musk probably isn’t in this for the money.
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