The Elon Musk Effect

With an agreement due potentially by 2 May, Twitter is close to being sold to Elon Musk. Uniting the world’s richest man with one of the most influential social networking services initially seemed to be highly improbable - yet here we are - close to an endgame.

Our experts have been closely following progress and share their initial views.

As Elise Mendelle, our Creative Director points out Mr. Musk has made clear that he sees many deficiencies in Twitter as a social media service. The fact that he says he wants to “transform” the company as a “platform for free speech around the globe” is concerning. Mendelle quotes presenter Jameela Jamil who believes this presents opportunities for “lawless hate, bigotry and misogyny.”

One of our Directors, Victoria Jenkins, questions whether trolls and hate speech may be given more space to flourish, as Musk pledges to cut down moderation on the platform. Jenkins goes on to say that human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, are already very concerned about where the line will be drawn between "free speech" and tweets inciting violence and political unrest.

As with most major social networks Twitter's main business model is currently 90% ad-based, under Musk's leadership this may change to a focus on subscriptions instead.

However, Jenkins points to potential positive impacts, such as the fact that Musk has pledged to clean up Twitter bots, which in the past have been used to manipulate big events, such as political elections. Likewise, the much requested 'edit' button may finally be added to Twitter.

According to Twitter’s co-founder Jack Dorsey, Musk’s decision to take the social media platform into private ownership and away from the ad model and Wall Street is not something he would have wanted under normal circumstances, however, Dorsey went on to say that he trusts Musk’s mission to extend the light of consciousness and Musk’s goal of creating a platform that is “maximally trusted and broadly inclusive”.

Certainly both Musk and Dorsey share similar values around promoting more free speech online. Only time will tell how this will unfold but we have to trust that under Musk Twitter will not lose all its filters.