What’s Next for Social Media
After rejecting Elon Musk’s offer, the Twitter board had second thoughts then Accepts Musk’s Offer to Buy Company in $44 Billion Deal
The deal has polarized Twitter employees, users and regulators over the power tech giants wield in determining the parameters of discourse on the internet and how those companies enforce their rules.
The two sides worked through the night to hash out a deal in which Mr. Musk plans to take Twitter private in a deal that values the company at $54.20 a share.
Free Speech
I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022
Sorry Elon, this has nothing to do with First Amendment Free Speech.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Twitter is a private company.
Curiously, Democrats and some Republicans want to ban free speech. They want the government to tell private companies what is allowed or not.
I did not agree with some of Twitter’s moves, but it was their right to decide acceptable behavior.
Will Trump Be Back?
TechCrunch reports Trump says he won’t return to Twitter if his account is reinstated
“I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on Truth,” Trump told Fox News. “I hope Elon buys Twitter because he’ll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on Truth. The bottom line is, no, I am not going back to Twitter.”
Twitter permanently banned Trump in January 2021 citing concerns over the “risk of further incitement of violence” following the January 6 attack on the capitol. While Trump had previously broken the platform’s rules, the company had maintained his account under its special guidance for world leaders and information in the public interest.
Trump’s comments from today come as shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp, which announced a deal in October to acquire Trump Media & Technology Group, fell 9.5% as Twitter officially announced its deal with Musk. It’s possible that Truth’s shaky start could cause Trump to change his mind about rejoining Twitter down the road.
Trump’s media group released its Truth Social iOS app today in February, but the app remained unavailable to users for quite some time. Truth is being marketed as an alternative to social media giants like Twitter and Facebook. If Trump does end up posting on Truth regularly this week, it will mark the former president’s return to social media following his ban from numerous platforms, including Twitter and Facebook. So far, he’s only posted on Truth once.
Digital World Acquisition Corp
Elon Musk, Twitter and Free Speech
Please consider Elon Musk, Twitter and Free Speech by the WSJ editorial board.
What a gamble for Mr. Musk, who argues he can unlock value in Twitter that its current leadership can’t.
“The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter’s stockholders,” the company’s chairman said. Mr. Musk offered $54.20 a share. Before his stake became public, Twitter was trading near $39. The company’s board at first seemed poised to reject the deal, and it adopted a poison pill. Then Mr. Musk announced financing and began calling big shareholders to make his pitch.
If Mr. Musk can strike a more satisfying balance on content moderation, maybe he’s right about Twitter’s hidden value. Current management is correct that most regular social-media users don’t want a daily bath of Russian bots, jihadist propaganda, noxious harassment and so forth. Ditto for advertisers, who represent about 90% of the company’s revenue. Yet Silicon Valley’s tech lords have decided they want to be arbiters of speech on political topics like climate change and the origins of Covid.
That last paragraph represents the challenge for Musk.
It needs ad revenue but as the WSJ says, “most regular social-media users don’t want a daily bath of Russian bots, jihadist propaganda, noxious harassment and so forth.”
Hypocrites Unite
The hyperbole surrounding Mr. Musk’s Twitter foray has been curious, hilarious, and sometimes both. Mr. Musk “is increasingly behaving like a movie supervillain,” an Axios writer said. A former CEO of the social site Reddit called for government regulation “to prevent rich people from controlling our channels of communication.” That line was published in an op-ed at the Washington Post, which is owned by the noted pauper Jeff Bezos.
Hoot of the Day
My hoot of the day is the Washington Post owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos moaning about the rich controlling the media.
Republicans Cheer Musk’s Twitter Deal, Democrats Object
It’s time for Twitter to become what it was supposed to be: the online public space for everyone with different views. pic.twitter.com/oAn2Cdw7uF
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) April 26, 2022
Power to Censor
Elon Musk buying Twitter terrifies the left because they don’t want their power to censor conservatives threatened.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) April 25, 2022
Dangerous Deal
This deal is dangerous for our democracy. Billionaires like Elon Musk play by a different set of rules than everyone else, accumulating power for their own gain. We need a wealth tax and strong rules to hold Big Tech accountable.
— Elizabeth Warren (@SenWarren) April 25, 2022
“This deal is dangerous for our democracy. Billionaires like Elon Musk play by a different set of rules than everyone else, accumulating power for their own gain. We need a wealth tax and strong rules to hold Big Tech accountable.”
I happen to believe Warren is dangerous for Democracy.
A Word About Taxes
How many jobs die Musk create?
How many did you create Marie?
How much taxes on each Tesla sale?
Is Musk helping your climate goals?We need far more like @elonmusk and far less politicians like you and @SenWarren and your pathetic wealth redistribution schemes.
— Mike “Mish” Shedlock (@MishGEA) April 26, 2022
Progressive fools have no idea how much wealth (that is taxed) that Elon Musk created.
This post originated at MishTalk.Com.
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Mish
It’s all fine when there are legitimate questions about information but what about those times when utter stupidity reins? It has been scientifically demonstrated that misinformation travels faster and wider than the truth on the internet. QAnon is but one glaring example. It was taken over by a computer genius “kid” with serious social problems. Watch HBO’s documentary. Now we have a tech genius, Musk, who has Asperger’s, who wants to control a Social Media company. If you know anything about Asperger’s these people have difficulty socializing and communicating. But somehow big-tech will figure out how to fix our societal issues? Really? What do think of Zuckerberg’s work at FB? Or any other social platform for that matter? At least with newspapers a lot of crap got filtered out first and hopefully validated/corroborated. Now we’ll have millions upon millions of people parroting garbage. In case you haven’t noticed people are more interested in comfort food than the healthy stuff that’s actually good for you. The MSM has become worse over time but most of that has to with greed, as with most of societies ills. But Musk is going to need some serious input from psychologists to make free speech work on the internet. Meanwhile, I’ll be popping some corn…
Government control of industry is good now?
The free
speech part is definitely good in my book and I am happy with Musk’s ambitions
in that area but Twitter’s success or failure under Musk will depend on
advertisements since revenue comes from them. What Musk has said he will do is
music to companies’ ears because it will reduce wastage of their advertising
budgets since advertising to bots and trolls is a pure loss. These companies having
the certainty that there is an actual person seeing their ads is what they want
and they will pay a premium for that certainty. Open-sourcing the algorisms is
in the same line. It caters to the advertising dollars making their ads more likely
to hit the target audience.