After several months of dithering, Elon Musk is finally ready to buy Twitter for 44 billion dollars. To date, the agreement has not yet been concluded. But the acquisition should be finalized before October 28.
Last April, the billionaire had already mentioned the changes he would like to make to the social network if he took control of it. Now that he is very close to doing so, these could come to fruition.
According to experts, here’s how these changes would affect Twitter:
More flexible moderation rules
Currently, hate speech, targeted harassment and all forms of violence are prohibited on Twitter.
Under Elon Musk’s leadership, things might be different. The boss of Tesla has always displayed a particular attachment to the principle of freedom of expression. For him,
“If citizens want something banned, let them pass a law to that effect, otherwise it should be allowed. »
His arrival at the head of Twitter could thus lead to a relaxation of the moderation rules of the platform. “He wants to reduce their content moderation”said Bill Mann, an analyst at Motley Fool.
According to Sinan Aral, professor of management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology,
“users should expect a more permissive approach to conservative views”. This expert is also convinced that as soon as the acquisition is made, Elon Musk will reinstate Donald Trump, whose account has been blocked.
For his part, Daniel Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, thinks that Elon Musk’s commitment to free speech “goes against the monetization of the platform”
and could drive users away.
The transformation into a universal application
With Elon Musk, Twitter could turn into a “universal application” which, in addition to its social media function and messaging platform, could include payment services, (travel) reservations and many more.
This thought follows a recent tweet from the billionaire who said that
“the purchase of Twitter is an accelerator for the creation of X, the universal application. ». If the idea comes to fruition, the social network could resemble WeChat, a popular multipurpose app in China.
“One could understand why any company would want that”, said Bill Mann of Motley Fool. Nevertheless,
“there are many competitors that Twitter should be up against”emphasizes Sinan Aral.
For Daniel Ives of Wedbush, “It will take years and many challenges ahead. ».
Source : ABC News