While some of what Elon Musk, the eccentric billionaire who’s somehow an outstanding executive, visionary, and Twitter personality, might be bluster, it looks like his calls to fight for free speech on Twitter were true.
That came out recently, when Parag Agrawal, CEO of Twitter, tweeted, “I’m excited to share that we’re appointing @elonmuskto our board! Through conversations with Elon in recent weeks, it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our board.”
Elon, in response, said: Looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!
Looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2022
Business Insider reported: “Through conversations with Elon in recent weeks, it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our Board,” Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal said in a tweet. Musk, meanwhile, said he is “looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!”
Further, For the Love of News reported that:
On Monday, Twitter revealed in an SEC filing that Elon Musk bought 73.4 million shares of the social media company. This news comes just days after Musk polled his followers, asking if they believed that Twitter “rigorously adheres” to the principle of free speech.
Musk’s 9.2% stake in Twitter now makes him Twitter’s biggest shareholder.
Days ago, Elon Musk seemed interested in starting a new platform. Why the sudden flip? Why would Elon want to buy shares of the social media platform with whom he is not happy?
It’s unclear what changes Musk could make to Twitter, or at least push to make now that he’s on the Board of Directors.
On one hand, Musk is widely expected to be a pro-free speech force in Twitter’s Board, mainly because of a March tweet in which he asked users if they thought Twitter was doing enough to defend free speech, as Newsweek reports:
Musk has recently been critical of Twitter, questioning whether the social media platform was doing enough to protect freedom of speech. In a Twitter poll on March 25, he asked users if they thought Twitter was doing enough to adhere to the principle, and 70.4 percent of respondents answered that the platform wasn’t doing enough.
His ability to push for such changes, however, could be limited by his appointment to the Board of Directors. That move could have been a strategic one on Twitter’s part, as he won’t be allowed to own more than 14.9% of Twitter’s stock as a board member or for 90 days after he leaves the board, so Twitter could be using the appointment to keep things under control.
So far since the announcement of his stock purchase, however, Musk has kept what he’s mentioned in terms of changes pretty mundane, asking if users want an edit button for tweets, saying “Do you want an edit button?”
Do you want an edit button?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2022
So, we’ll have to wait and see what happens. Musk could be a massively pro-free speech force that rolls back some censorship, or he could be hamstrung by smaller priorities and a limited influence due to his board seat.
By: Gen Z Conservative, editor of GenZConservative.com. Follow me on Parler and Gettr.
This story syndicated with permission from Gen Z Conservative