Headline Roundup • April 5th, 2022
How Will Elon Musk Change Twitter and Online Free Speech?
Summary from the AllSides News Team
Elon Musk will join Twitter’s board of directors, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal announced Tuesday morning. How will this move by the billionaire Tesla CEO impact online free speech?
Agrawal said Musk’s passion and criticism were “exactly what we need on Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term.” Co-founder Jack Dorsey also welcomed Musk’s involvement, saying he “cares deeply about our world and Twitter’s role in it.”
Musk hinted he would make “significant improvements” to Twitter. On Tuesday, he tweeted a poll asking Twitter users, “Do you want an edit button?” Musk previously stated on Mar. 26 that the social media platform “serves as the de facto public town square,” arguing that it would “fundamentally” undermine democracy if it failed to “adhere to free speech principles.”
Voices in left-rated outlets were generally skeptical of Musk’s role, and voices in right-rated outlets were generally welcoming. News coverage of Musk joining Twitter’s board was widespread across the spectrum; several right-rated outlets also covered Republican pleas for Musk to reinstate former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account, which was permanently suspended over alleged “incitement of violence” regarding the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.
Featured Coverage of this Story
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AP Photo/Richard Drew
Elon Musk has found something to keep himself occupied until his first crewed mission to Mars fulfills his prediction and lands on the Red Planet in 2029. He’s purchased a 9.2 percent share in Twitter for $2.9 billion — where he has 80.2 million followers — making him the social media company’s largest shareholder. Given his $299 billion fortune, all it would take is a few mouse clicks to place the entire company in his shopping cart and complete the transaction in short order. If he does so, in addition to being the electric car...
Photographer: JIM WATSON/AFP
Just a day after it was revealed that Elon Musk had bought $3 billion of Twitter Inc.’s stock, making him its single largest shareholder, the company’s chief executive officer took to Twitter to announce how the world’s richest man had decided to exercise his leverage.
“I’m excited to share that we’re appointing @elonmusk to our board!” tweeted CEO Parag Agrawal on Tuesday. “Through conversations with Elon in recent weeks, it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our Board.”
Wait a minute. What’s this “conversations with Elon in recent weeks”...
Fox News
It's a good day in America, maybe a rare, good day. We're going to celebrate no matter what. Here's the context for why it's good—censorship. Censorship is essentially the hallmark of neoliberalism. Have you noticed that? Our leaders seem to spend a lot more time trying to control what we say and think than trying to improve our country and that means that anyone who orders the wrong words, even accidentally, gets fired or banned or ostracized or even charged with a crime. We've seen that, too. We don't need...
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