Elon Musk cuts heads on Twitter and opens the debate on freedom of expression

Elon Musk never lose. He was about to do so when Judge Kathleen McCormick forced him to close the deal with Twitter. She stumbled, but she knew how to turn her back and forth. Finally, on Thursday the 27th, he was left with no choice but to pay $44 billion for the social network, a deal he sold as a calculated achievement. “The bird was released”, he tweeted this Friday the 28th. In liquid modernity, the one that forgets failures and victories with amazing speed, Musk strives to go down in history as the defender of freedom of expression and the opinion-maker who knows a little about everything.

READ ALSO: Elections in Brazil: “Evangelical pastors are sowing fear from the altar”

The move, for the moment, works for him. Musk can talk about the war between Ukraine and Russiaof China Y Taiwan, and almost always get away with the criticism it receives. “Your real-time opinions on what is happening in the world seek to capitalize on your business -says Leonardo Castro Pozo, specialist in digital marketing and consultant for Support Communication projects-. It’s a smart move that also has a positive impact on your reputation, which is expressed in your high level of ‘engagement’; that is, in the number of reactions and comments generated by their tweets”.

“Musk bought Twitter to review its business model and determine how to make it profitable, which its previous owners failed to do. Castro Pozo adds. It is speculated that he wants to develop a WeChat-like app called X, which would be powered by Twitter technology.”.

And in his plans -which come accompanied by his supposed interest in improving society-, the freedom of expression is a cornerstone. Hence, many think that their first dismissals from the social network respond to that. Because Musk came in with his leg up and fired the CEO Parag Agrawal (with whom he had a Twitter discussion months ago), when CFO Ned Segal and other heads. vijaya gaddedirector of legal policy remembered for deciding to permanently suspend the account of the former US President Donald Trumpwas also expelled.

A blow to comment moderation? It is not the only interpretation. “Let us not lose sight of the fact that this type of dismissal is usually a common strategy in all areas that work with structures -holds Miguel Sánchez Ferrán, Panamanian political analyst and specialist in international business-. In governments, companies and even in historical events such as revolutions, we see that the authorities of previous administrations are judged, the monarchs, for example, their heads were cut off or they were exiled. In this case, we could think that firing these managers is part of a plan by Musk to confront the rest of Twitter’s senior positions.”.

LOOK: At least six injured in a shooting during a funeral at a church in the United States

Moderation or censorship?

At the end of September and as part of the legal battle between Twitter Y Elon Musk -who tried to disassociate himself from the purchase- the court that reviewed the case disclosed several private messages from the billionaire. One of them was with Mathias Dopfnerdirector of the company Axel Springerowner of “Political” Y “bild”. After encouraging him to buy the social network, Döpfner proposed to him to establish “a platform for freedom of expression”. “It would be a real contribution to democracy”, he added. Musk responded tersely: “interesting idea”.

Another who contacted him was Joe Rogan, podcaster overwhelmingly successful American who was accused of racism and spreading false information about vaccines against the coronavirus COVID-19. Rogan asked him to release Twitter “censorship mafia”.

MORE IN WORLD: Argentina announces a “successful” agreement for its debt of 2,000 million dollars with the Paris Club

Among the messages were also those that I exchanged with Parag Agrawal. “It would be great if permanent bans were relaxed, except for spam accounts and those who advocate explicit violenceMusk asked.

The analyst Sanchez Ferran comments: “It is clear that Musk does not see censorship in a social network made to give opinions. The problem with that is the misinformation that can be generated. I believe that Twitter is going to accept certain accounts again, such as the one from donald trumpbut will also ask that certain rules be followed”.

It is worth mentioning the case of the popular rapper Ye, whose account was suspended for racist comments. A chat with Musk’s friend was enough for him to be able to tweet again yesterday, as reported by the El Financiero portal.

ALSO IN THE WORLD: Russia and Iran, the “friends and rivals” that the war and sanctions seem to bring closer

Far from any speculation, Elon Musk has already given advertisers peace of mind. “Obviously, Twitter it cannot become a hell of freedom for everything, where you can say anything without consequences“, told them.

Castro Pozo adds: “While it sounds like he plans to loosen content restrictions and plans to roll back permanent bans on accounts that have already been removed for violating the rules, he also wants Twitter to become the world’s most respected advertising platform, one that builds brands and makes businesses grow”.

For the moment, Musk is not complicated. As a result of the questions on this matter – which increased after Trump I said that Twitter “now it is in good hands”-, he announced that he will create a “content moderation council with very diverse points of view”, so he will not make decisions yet. Advertising money will continue to be the best moderator.

Source: Elcomercio

Ronald Payne

I, Ronald Payne, am a journalist and author who dedicated his life to telling the stories that need to be said. I have over 7 years of experience as a reporter and editor, covering everything from politics to business to crime.