What price freedom of speech?
Whatever his intentions, Elon Musk’s bid to buy Twitter risks a world where the unelected mega-rich get to control our biggest social forums
THEY say everything g and every everyone has a price and nowhere is that more true than in America.
Many here believe that even justice is a commodity that can be bought if you can afford it.
For the world’s richest, there is nothing Uncle Sam won’t sell them.
Elon Musk appears to see America as a purchaser’s paradise. So much so, that he is now attempting to buy one of the largest free speech platforms.
The Space X founder has launched a hostile £33 billion bid to buy Twitter outright, promising that if he is successful, he will “unlock” the company’s “extraordinary potential”.
He is already the social media platform’s biggest private shareholder, saying he “invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe”.
He added he also believes such a right is “a societal imperative for a functioning democracy.”
His views though, are not new. From their inception, social media sites have claimed to offer open communication, courteous speech and the free exchange of views and information in good faith as their very foundation.
The reality, we all know, is very different. They commoditise our private data to make huge profits.
The platforms often appear to run smears and slurs, threats and lies, and shine a light on the most appalling aspects of society. On a daily basis, Twitter is awash with hostility, reputation trashing, lack of civility, scepticism, propaganda, racism, misinformation and the cancellation of individuals.
So Musk’s offer to buy the company, in order to bolster freedom of speech, is understandably creating much concern, particularly among those who worry about concentrating too much power over public media in one person’s hands.
What will Musk do with Twitter? Will he allow unfettered speech, creating an environment with even more disinformation and falsehoods from the likes of Donald Trump and conspiracy theorists?
You only need to look at how many mistruths were tweeted during Trump’s time in the White House and then during the pandemic, to see what damage they can do.
Lies appeal because they are unrestrained by any requirement to be truthful or honest.
As a result, fact-checking is generally unsuccessful in combating them, and what penalties does Twitter actually put in place now, to clean up the platform, beyond closing accounts and labelling tweets as ‘misleading’?
Many who peddle such falsehoods would no doubt throw their support behind Musk, arguing cynically that it is a battle for “free speech.” Under his control and with his beliefs, there is a fear Twitter would return to allowing misinformation, including about elections, with dire consequences.
This comes at a time when many countries’ handle on democracy is already extremely unsafe.
America survived the storming of the Capitol last year, an attack carried out by individuals who have since admitted in court, they were fuelled by Trump’s and others’ untrue tweets.
Many have already expressed concern over Musk’s ability, as a shareholder, to influence the company’s policies on abusive users and harmful content, to which he is no stranger.
In 2018, he came under fire for calling British diver Vernon Unsworth, who helped rescue children trapped in a cave in Thailand, “pedo guy” on Twitter.
Musk later successfully defended a defamation lawsuit in the US, despite there being no truth to his slur.
Only in America could a jury be convinced Unsworth’s reputation was not damaged.
What will Musk do with Twitter? Will he allow unfettered speech, creating an environment with even more disinformation and falsehoods from the likes of Donald Trump?