John Ballou
Billionaire Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter has raised serious questions about the future of the platform and the proliferation of hate speech and misinformation online.
Since Musk’s $44 billion purchase, hate speech has surged on the website and major companies have pulled their ads. In the past, Musk has called himself a “free speech absolutist” and said he would eventually restore the Twitter account of former US President Donald Trump, who was banned from the platform for spreading false information.
In a recent letter to advertisers, the Tesla CEO pledged to restore free speech on Twitter while preventing it from turning into a “hellscape” for its 230 million users.
Just as important for Musk is turning one of the world’s most influential social media sites into a profitable business. The beleaguered company fired about half of its staff on Friday and Musk has said he is looking to generate revenue via paid subscriptions for special features, including Twitter verification.
In this episode of The Stream, we’ll discuss the future of Twitter and what it could mean for social media users.
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