{"id":1456561,"date":"2022-04-28T10:29:41","date_gmt":"2022-04-28T14:29:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1456561"},"modified":"2022-04-28T10:29:45","modified_gmt":"2022-04-28T14:29:45","slug":"what-does-elon-musk-buying-twitter-really-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/what-does-elon-musk-buying-twitter-really-mean\/","title":{"rendered":"What Does Elon Musk Buying Twitter Really Mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwhat-does-elon-musk-buying-twitter-really-mean%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1456561&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/dw-wp-production.imgix.net\/2022\/04\/Elon-Musk-9.jpg?w=1200&#038;h=800&#038;ixlib=react-9.3.0\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\" \/><\/div>\n<p><span>Twitter may cost him $44 billion, but Elon Musk is getting an avalanche of free advice on how to run the social media giant.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Musk, who reached a deal Monday with the platform\u2019s board of directors, claims he bought what he called \u201cthe digital town square\u201d to ensure that it promotes free speech after years of criticism the San Francisco based company has silenced conservatives and other speech it arbitrarily brands harmful.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>But the Tesla chief seems poised to do far more than merely tinker under the hood.<\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cI also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans,\u201d Musk added. \u201cTwitter has tremendous potential \u2014 I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Those users, including public figures, media outlets, tech gurus, and everyday users are poised to help.<span>\u00a0Some have ideas for improvements and others want Musk to shine a light on what went on inside the company before he took the reins.\u00a0<\/span><span>Sen. Josh Hawley \u2014 (R-MO), an outspoken critic of \u201cBig Tech,\u201d shared an open letter to Musk in which he congratulated the world\u2019s richest man on his acquisition and called for a post-purchase audit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>\u201cTwitter has largely evaded public accountability over the past several years,\u201d Hawley wrote. \u201cSince I\u2019ve been in the Senate, I\u2019ve sent a number of oversight inquiries to the company. These letters cover subjects as diverse as content moderation policies, viewpoint discrimination, suppression of content, and Twitter\u2019s own security. Twitter, not surprisingly, has effectively ignored these requests.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span>In particular, Hawley and other conservatives want to know how the decision was made to suspend the New York Post\u2019s account over its now-vindicated reporting on Hunter Biden\u2019s laptop just before the 2020 election. In general, Hawley wants to know if Twitter\u2019s suspension and shadow banning of users over the years represents a pattern of bias against conservatives.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Media outlets have suggestions of their own. The <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/business-61226282\"><span>BBC<\/span><\/a><span>, for example, suggested Musk could \u201cloosen content rules,\u201d remove advertisements, distinguish between real and fake accounts, and provide the ability to \u201cedit\u201d tweets. <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/04\/25\/business\/elon-musk-twitter-trump-return.html\"><span>The New York Times<\/span><\/a><span> speculated that Musk may seek to address \u201cfree speech and content moderators,\u201d reinstate high-profile banned figures such as former president Donald Trump, and uncover \u201cthe algorithm.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But while Musk\u2019s acquisition of Twitter \u2014 and the prospect of a powerful tool for political expression may soon be more ideologically tolerant \u2014 has sparked giddiness among conservatives, there may be cause to pump the brakes, at least until Musk\u2019s intentions become more clear.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Free speech and content moderation<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>The most likely area of change falls squarely in the realm of free speech. In recent years, almost every social media platform has tightened its control on content, often under political pressure from the Democratic Party in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential race and the lead up to the 2020 election.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Musk has been consistent on his views on free speech, often bordering on absolutism. That perspective is currently almost non-existent on the mainstream internet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>\u201cA good sign as to whether there is free speech is, is someone you don\u2019t like allowed to say something you don\u2019t like?\u201d Musk <a href=\"https:\/\/gizmodo.com\/elon-musk-free-speech-ted-talk-on-twitter-1848795067\">pondered<\/a> during a recent TED event. \u201cIf that is the case, we have free speech. It\u2019s damn annoying when someone you don\u2019t like says something you don\u2019t like. That is the sign of a healthy, functioning free speech situation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Bending Twitter to his view of free speech could be one of the easiest changes for Musk to implement. In plain terms, free speech online is restricted by content moderation, which is imposed according to internal policies and principles defined by vague metrics like \u201chate speech\u201d and \u201csafety.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><span>Twitter lays out these metrics in their \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/help.twitter.com\/en\/rules-and-policies\/twitter-rules\"><span>Twitter Rules,<\/span><\/a><span>\u201d which the new boss could adjust on Day 1. The technical obstacles of implementation would be nearly nonexistent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>\u201cThe algorithm\u201d and making Twitter open source<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>Musk has called for making Twitter\u2019s algorithms \u201copen source.\u201d In Computer Science, an algorithm is simply a set of rules which describes a process, not unlike a \u201crecipe\u201d for a computer. Massive platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram are built upon thousands of interconnected algorithms and sub-algorithms, all of which serve a different purpose. Opening up all of Twitter\u2019s algorithms to the public\u00a0<\/span>could not only prove difficult, it may simply be bad business. The costly intellectual property that helped make Twitter a $44 billion company would be anyone\u2019s to replicate. Surely\u00a0<span>Musk isn\u2019t buying a company simply to open its guts to the world.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Musk could make certain parts of Twitter open source, and it is possible that exposing some specific parts of \u201cthe algorithm\u201d to which he referred could provide some transparency without giving away crucial company secrets. Many aren\u2019t looking for trade secrets in order to build their own platforms. Instead, they more likely want access to<\/span><span> Twitter\u2019s ranking algorithms, which decide which posts users see; profile suggestion algorithms, which suggest who users may want to follow; and comment-moderation algorithms, which decide which replies may be in some way offensive, and must therefore be hidden from view.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Still, these complex pieces of Twitter\u2019s infrastructure represent valuable intellectual property and are likely too complicated for most to understand when considered as part of the platform\u2019s programmatic ecosystem. For Twitter to<\/span><span>\u00a0achieve meaningful algorithm transparency, it would likely need to release them to trusted experts figures who could determine their purpose before distilling the details in<\/span><span>\u00a0plain-language overviews.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span> Twitter already<\/span><span>\u00a0<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/transparency.twitter.com\/en\/reports\/rules-enforcement.html#2021-jan-jun\"><span>claims to do exactly that<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><b>Fake accounts and bots<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>Prior to reaching a deal to buy Twitter, Musk <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1517215736606957573\"><span>promised<\/span><\/a><span> to \u201cdefeat the spam bots or die trying,\u201d and to \u201cauthenticate all real humans\u201d on the platform. To underscore the need for this, he has referenced the out-sized audiences of several high-profile figures who have lower levels of engagement \u2014 a tell-tale sign that many of their followers may be fake.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>There are multiple reasons why the removal of fake (or even anonymous) accounts would be beneficial. Doing so would give a more realistic impression of user feedback and ideological breakdown, all while undermining the ability of foreign entities \u2014 such as Russia, China and Iran \u2014 to manipulate the American public narrative. In a world where follower count and virality are seen as metrics of societal importance, the proportion of fake follows and fake likes\/retweets is a crucial factor.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>However, solving such a problem is far more complicated than many acknowledge, given that multiple social media platforms already struggle to verify the authenticity of accounts. Twitter allows the use of anonymous accounts for various valid reasons and\u00a0requiring heightened levels of user verification opens up significant privacy concerns. Finally, forcing users to identify themselves may have an impact on the existence of <em>true<\/em> free speech in certain countries.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Edit button, longer posts, no ads\u2026<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>In recent days, a wide array of potential changes to Twitter features have been suggested. Among them: creating an \u201cedit button,\u201d which could allow people to edit previously-immutable tweets; allowing posts to exceed 280 characters; and the removal of advertisements. They could all be achieved, and perhaps easily. But each would represent a fundamental shift in the platform itself, with potential consequences for its user base.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The ability to edit tweets, for example, could be its own can of worms. Would edits be limited to shortly after the original post \u2014 in a similar fashion to Gmail\u2019s \u201cundo\u201d functionality? If not, how would engagement with the original content be sorted from the new, edited content? Would the content be marked as \u201cedited,\u201d and if so, how? Would Twitter notify those who engaged with the old content that it has been updated?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>In an increasingly fast-moving and online world, Twitter often acts as a real-time pulse point in our culture. But would this change if tweets were no longer snapshots of the moment they were published? We already see media outlets quietly changing headlines after their original reporting consumed the oxygen of online attention. The same could happen on Twitter, but at a much higher velocity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Longer posts would allow Twitter to address the issue of low-context debate, but they could also impact what makes the platform unique, even if it did solve a growing problem \u2014 while threads allow people to explore more complex ideas in depth, it\u2019s increasingly easier to cherry-pick comments and take them out of context. And in a society which works to consume data (not information) ever more quickly, will people look elsewhere if Twitter \u201cslowed down\u201d?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Finally, the removal of advertisements would be a pivotal change in the company\u2019s business model. Given that Twitter currently garners approximately 90% of its revenue from ad sales, amounting to $1.41 billion in the last quarter of 2021 alone, what could fill this monetary void?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>One potential solution would be to revamp Twitter\u2019s existing subscription model, Twitter Blue. But would this force all users to pay for the service? And even if some users paid for more features, would this impact the Musk\u2019s vision of true liberty for Twitter\u2019s future?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Uncovering Twitter\u2019s past ills<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span>Hawley\u2019s call for Musk to uncover details of Twitter\u2019s past could include exposing the truth about the censorship of the Hunter Biden story, who was suspended or shadow-banned and why, and whether there is an ongoing issue of political bias within Twitter.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Musk has called the silencing of the Hunter Biden laptop story \u201cincredibly inappropriate,\u201d but it is not clear that his criticism of Twitter and calls for freer expression of ideas is rooted in partisan politics. In fact, his politics are something of a closely held mystery, with his donations going to members of both parties. It could be a mistake for<span>\u00a0conservatives to believe they have an outsized say in the direction Musk takes Twitter, especially when it comes to actions that would be to their political benefit.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Musk has expressed views which align with some conservative principles in the past, such as free speech and tax policy. But he has denied being a conservative, and claimed on another occasion (perhaps un-seriously) that he was a \u201csocialist,\u201d but \u201cnot the kind that shifts resources from most productive to least productive.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Indeed, Musk <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1519415674111672325\">argued<\/a> that Twitter should be \u201cpolitically neutral\u201d in order to \u201cdeserve public trust.\u201d This \u201ceffectively means upsetting the far right and the far left equally,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p><span>***<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Musk\u2019s acquisition of Twitter is fascinating, from a technological perspective and in terms of its potential cultural impact. With one of Silicon Valley\u2019s major communication platforms moving directly against the tide of governmental control of speech, it is likely that Twitter will find itself at the center of the growing debate over the nature of online freedom.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>But all we can do now is wait to see what online freedom means to Elon Musk. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Ultimately, it will be his company. We\u2019re just passengers, along for the ride.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span>Ian Haworth is a writer for The Daily Wire and contributor to Morning Wire. Follow him on <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ighaworth\"><i><span>Twitter<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>, <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ighaworth\"><i><span>Facebook<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>, and <\/span><\/i><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/IanGHaworth\"><i><span>YouTube<\/span><\/i><\/a><i><span>.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span>The views expressed in this piece are the author\u2019s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Twitter may cost him $44 billion, but Elon Musk is getting an avalanche of free advice on how to run the social media giant.Musk, who reached a deal Monday with<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":77,"featured_media":1480811,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1456561","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1456561","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/77"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1456561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1456561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1480811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1456561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1456561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1456561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}