What Will Happen to Free Speech on Twitter Under Elon Musk?

Just last month, Elon Musk’s takeover of the social network company, Twitter, has summoned sheer pandemonium to all 217 million users and its 7500 employees. Soon, the company’s new CEO fired nearly 4000 employees, cutting the workforce in half. Accompanying the reduction of laborers, more changes were made; the blue verified icon no longer determined iconic figures, but rather differentiated the ones who purchased Twitter Blue from those who did not. People are questioning the underlying motivation behind Elon Musk to make the recent changes to the company.

Elon Musk is aiming towards shaping the social network platform to Web 3.0–a notion that implements decentralization from “tech giants” that oversee customer activity in social media platforms. The transition from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 additionally implies the distribution of the company’s ownership, as users would be shareholders of the company in a similar idea to NFT transactions. Hence, the incorporation of subscriptions of the blue verified symbol is leading the company toward the decentralized business model of customer-centered profit, rather than relying on tech giants that offer company-based advertisements–for instance, advertisements by Google: based on customer activity data gathered by tech giants in Web 2.0.

Twitter is used to assert one’s opinion, to announce a corporation’s announcement, and as a vital communication tool for many. Little does Musk know that his recent changes to the company’s business model are obstructing the company to achieve its objective of ensuring free speech. Charging subscription fees for blue verification marks may increase the likelihood of faulty accounts, thus inflating the risk of fake news within the intranet. Companies using Twitter’s platform to assert and announce are leaving; advertisers are no longer investing in the platform. According to Media Matters for America, following Musk’s takeover, Twitter’s top hundred influencers have abandoned the platform.

As the transition from Web 2.0 to Web 3.0 will dismantle Google and Apple’s opportunities to pursue monopoly over Twitter’s profit, the tech giants’ possibility of potentially banning the platform is mentioned among the experts in the field. Due to the fact that Twitter’s stock is completely purchased by Musk, other corporations that aim to transition to Web 3.0 will be affected alongside, also potentially being restricted by the tech giants. The possible risks of legal prohibition are driving the U.S. and the world away from their common goal. The 16th United Nations Sustainable Development Goal is the right to press freedom and information, a goal that the current trend in the sector clearly contradicts.

As much as free speech is emphasized in the Constitution, it seems the descendants after more than two hundred years are forgetting, more or less disregarding the sheer genesis of the United States.

Elon Musk, the co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX, purchased Twitter for $44 billion on October 27, 2022. Upon his acquisition of Twitter, Elon Musk announced he would cut 75% of the workforce, allow a “blue certification badge” for any individuals who would pay 8 dollars per month, and visioned Twitter to become a platform for greater freedom of speech. Therefore, the future modification of Twitter and acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk could have detrimental effects on the advertisement and promotion of future business as they pursued the agenda of the “blue certification badge”; an absolute free speech tool that can increase the spread of misinformation and abuse of credibility.

Since Musk promised the freedom of speech on Twitter, there were several reports that racist comments, hate speech, and other objectionable content had significantly increased after 24 hours of his ownership. For example, according to the NCRI (Network Contagion Research Institute), the use of racial slurs - commonly the n-word - in the app has spiked nearly 500 percent. Musk has also promised to change Twitter’s current moderation policies and undo the permanent bans on controversial figures such as Donald Trump. This would target Twitter negatively when profiting off advertisements, as brands are very sensitive about the types of content where their ads are presented and they try to avoid their ads running with disputed content such as hate speech and racism. Additionally, Musk has also indicated that he wanted the platform to be less reliant on advertising even though 90% of Twitter’s revenue comes from advertising. This would result in companies reconsidering having their ads on Twitter, leading to detrimental effects on an advertisement, promotion of future businesses, and even on the revenue of Twitter.

Twitter has long been a platform that provided communication through expression among not only influencers and popular individuals but also the public. However, extreme freedom can lead to harassment, hate speech, and the spread of misinformation. Upon the acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk, he could diversify the revenue earnings of Twitter through e-commerce such as Paypal. Furthermore, his new policies surrounding content moderation and the purchase of the blue verified badge can deter the businesses and organizations that had benefited from advertisement with potentially increased false and misleading information. Thus, the new changes surrounding Twitter can have a greater impact on society than the average Twitter user might expect.

Founded in 2006, Twitter is a social media platform that allows users to freely ‘tweet’ their opinions. While their primary goal was to build connections between individuals, ever since the peak of Twitter’s popularity in 2013, governments have taken advantage of the platform as an effective communication method. Currently, 153 out of 193 UN countries have an official Twitter account. Politicians and government officials worldwide use Twitter to engage in international affairs and communicate with different nations. The term Twiplomacy (Twitter + diplomacy) defines such usage of Twitter.

However, Twitter’s usage also extends to agitating the public during elections. For example, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro severely damaged his opponent’s reputation by exposing him on Twitter during the election. Consequently, Bolsonaro won the election. Regardless of how it is used, it is clear that under the support of global leaders, Twitter flourished by facilitating exchanges of thoughts between and mediated by diplomats.

This tie between politics and Twitter makes the recent purchase of Twitter by the famed entrepreneur Elon Musk all the more interesting. Elon Musk has previously mentioned that Twitter is biased on politics, and does not allow political speeches. He has stated that he wishes to change Twitter so that Twitter does not censor innocent posts and prevent government interference. Regarding his purchase of Twitter, Musk promised to focus on free speech, as “Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy”.

In a TED interview where Musk explained his desire to buy Twitter, Musk stated that his “strong, intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is [trusted and inclusive] is extremely important to the future of civilization,”. His choice to unblock former president Donald Trump's account to include the former president on Twitter, and his focus on removing bots from Twitter - which would make tweets on Twitter more trustworthy as a source of real opinions by real people - seems reflective of his words.

Yet there are numerous changes that are still ongoing, as in Musk’s own words in a Twitter post on November 10th, “...Twitter will do lots of dumb things in the coming months. We will keep what works & change what doesn’t.”.

As there are still numerous changes ongoing, to declare anything but Musk’s intentions as well-intended would be rash. Only time will tell if his good intentions will result in a good outcome for the prospect of Twitter and free speech.