Twitter is under new management and everyone is feeling his wrath.
On Oct. 27, Elon Musk finished his purchase of Twitter after a six month-long acquisition. Following the initial announcement of the acquisition, the concept of Musk owning Twitter seemed like a joke. Memes littered social media apps for months. But with the purchase of the site now finalized, the future of Twitter already looks bleak.
Elon Musk is the CEO of several companies, Twitter is simply the newest addition to the list. With an estimated net worth of $148 billion, according to Bloomberg Billionaires Index, buying Twitter for $44 billion barely made a dent in his fortune.
Musk is no stranger to pulling stunts, prior to his acquisition of Twitter the mogul had amassed quite the platform and attention due to his antics on the site. From tweeting COVID-19 misinformation to offering a grossly oversimplified resolution to the war in Ukraine, Musk’s designer rose-colored glasses has clouded his ability to understand the consequences of his actions.
Though Musk may be a CEO of several companies, his work in cars and rockets does not translate effectively into the media.
Twitter was one of the least censored of social media site. But those who participated in spewing hate speech were often suspended or banned from the platform entirely, as observed with former President Donald Trump.
With Musk as a proponent of ‘free speech,’ it comes as little surprise that racist rhetoric has increased. And with little being done to prevent or condemn the hate speech being spread, Twitter is becoming a hostile environment for all minorities. The NAACP has met with Musk to discuss the increase in hate speech since his acquisition.
They acknowledged the sanctity of free speech while also urging Musk not to let Donald Trump back onto the platform and to denounce further use of it. Musk may have acknowledged the hate speech on Twitter, but holding true to his word to put safeguards on the site is a different matter.
Unfortunately, to some Americans, free speech has become synonymous with hate speech. The fact that Musk’s very presence made racists feel welcomed to share their bigoted opinions already shows what kind of platform he has created.
Perhaps Musk’s most notable offense was laying off thousands of employees with no prior warning. Many former Twitter employees took to the site after discovering they could no longer log on to work.
Employees that have worked at the company for years, contributing hours of creativity, have been fired with no other notice. Musk displayed absolutely zero grace or respect to his employees.
It is evident that Musk’s reign over Twitter has already been problematic, but the future of Twitter seems to no longer be guaranteed. Twitter has always been somewhat controversial, yet somewhat controlled.
Under Musk’s control however, Twitter seems doomed to become a forum where bigots feel entitled to divulge their unsolicited opinions, and employees behind the scenes are exploited for their labor.
