Elon Musk introduced this morning that he supplied to purchase Twitter for $43 billion. Simply final week, he purchased 9.2% of the corporate for $3 billion, then declined a board seat. Conveniently sufficient, the controversial CEO of Tesla and SpaceX was already getting ready to talk on the TED2022 convention for a dialog that was in such excessive demand that TED made the livestream out there to the general public.
Within the first query of the session, TED head Chris Anderson instantly requested Musk why he made a proposal to purchase Twitter.
“I believe it’s crucial for there to be an inclusive area without cost speech. Twitter has grow to be type of a de facto city sq., so it’s actually necessary that folks have each the fact and the notion that they can communicate freely throughout the bounds of the legislation,” he mentioned, after jokingly making an attempt to deflect the query to speak concerning the film “Ted,” which stars a speaking bear.
Anderson identified that Musk identifies as a “free speech absolutist.” Musk understands that Twitter should adhere to US legal guidelines (it’s unlawful to yell “hearth!” in a movie show if there isn’t a hearth, for instance), however he thinks that “if somebody you don’t like is allowed to say one thing you don’t like, if that’s the case, then now we have free speech.”
In fact, it isn’t in opposition to the principles to disagree with somebody on Twitter, however the guidelines do prohibit issues like hate speech, focused harassment, and COVID-19 misinformation, so it’s unclear what sort of adjustments Musk would really need to make to the platform’s guidelines. He mentioned he needs Twitter to match the legal guidelines of the nation it’s working in, which mirrors the method that platforms like Parler and Reality Social are taking. He added that he thinks it’s okay to put customers “in outing,” however that everlasting bans aren’t productive.
Musk added that he needs Twitter’s code, together with its algorithm, to be out there on Github. A number of US legislators have referred to as for higher transparency round social media algorithms, particularly within the wake of former Fb worker Frances Haugen’s doc leaks, which present that Fb favors content material that’s more likely to incite anger.
Musk additionally needs to scale back spam on the platform.
“The highest precedence I’d have is elimintating the spam and rip-off bots and the bot armies which can be on Twitter,” he mentioned. “They’re making the product a lot worse. If I had a dogecoin for each crypto rip-off…”
Concerning the controversial edit button, he prompt that the edit functionality would solely be out there for a brief time period after posting a Tweet. Maybe when a tweet is edited, he mentioned, it could lose all of its likes and retweets — however this might basically serve the identical function as simply deleting a tweet and writing one thing new.
It’s nonetheless up within the air whether or not Twitter will settle for Musk’s $43 billion provide — he mentioned he has “ample belongings” to make the acquisition, which means that the ball is in Twitter’s courtroom. However whereas the enterprise mogul was on stage, The Information reported that Twitter is anticipated to push again on his provide. In that case, Musk already assured the viewers that he has a plan B, which he refused to elaborate on (at the least it’s not a Preparation H).
“That is simply my robust, intuitive sense that having a public platform that’s maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extraordinarily necessary to the way forward for civilization,” Musk mentioned. “I don’t care concerning the economics in any respect.”
Towards the tip of the dialog, Anderson invited the notable shitposter to wax philosophical.
Musk famous that rising up, he was “obsessive about fact,” and that he studied physics to “perceive the reality of the universe.” In a approach, it looks like Musk views his entrepreneurial pursuits from this framework: SpaceX seeks to discover the unknown, Tesla needs to push for extra sustainable transportation, and Twitter… is an agent for unmitigated chaos on platform the place he needs to say, “Do no matter you need so long as it’s not unlawful?” One thing doesn’t fairly add up.
“My driving philosophy is to develop the scope and scale of consciousness in order that we might higher perceive the character of the universe,” he added. “I really like humanity, and I believe that we must always struggle for a great future for humanity.”
That’s a wild assertion from somebody who posts extra 42069 jokes than a crypto-curious fifteen-year-old on Reddit.
