Layoffs, lawsuits, and loyalty pleas: all phrases that come to mind when examining Elon Musk’s recent acquisition of the social media platform, Twitter, and the subsequent fallout of this abrupt shift in leadership., Long a controversial figure on the platform known for his outbursts and sometimes-outlandish viral tweets, many an eye roll and eyebrow were raised when, back in April 2022, Musk announced his intentions to buy the platform. Months later, after no shortage of controversy and lawsuits as the mogul tried to back out of the deal, he has officially done so— as of Oct. 27, it is officially his.
It may be easy to simply brush this off as simply another one of Musk’s
ambitious endeavors in an age where communication is so largely centralized among a few major platforms. However, the alteration of how information can be presented on such a large scale will almost certainly have serious consequences that cannot, and should not, be ignored. Pre-Musk, Twitter’s community guidelines included a variety of clauses ensuring that hate speech and invitations of violence would have action taken against them. Though these certainly were not always enforced consistently, they did provide a safety net ensuring that potentially dangerous forms of speech could not run rampant on the platform. Infamously, Twitter banned former United States President Donald Trump after his tweets encouraged the violence that occurred on Jan. 6th, 2021 at the US Capitol, demonstrating this community accountability, as even such a powerful figure was shown not to be immune to Twitter’s rules.
Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist,” has stated numerous times that he plans to reverse many of these protections. He has followed through on several of these promises already, including through the restoration of Donald Trump’s formerly banned account. Additionally, he has made no effort to ensure that protections against misinformation, especially surrounding elections including but not limited to the United States Midterm Elections, will remain intact, posing far greater dangers to knowledge and the protection of truth than any attempts to increase freedom of speech by way of reversing community guidelines ever will. Opening doors to further forms of free speech, too, will almost certainly pose serious danger to marginalized communities who are already common targets of violence and hate speech, as rhetoric supporting these hateful ideas will gain far more of a platform than it ever previously had. Twitter is not some obscure corner of the internet, either, with over 450 million active users. With how rapidly tweets are able to go viral, allowing these forms of speech is incredibly worrying, to say the least.
Additionally, the idea of allowing users to purchase verification (a blue check mark
indicating that users have some official standing and are who they claim to be) with no other form of proof that they should have it or real attempts at curbing impersonation not only defeats the entire purpose of the system but opens doors for a whole new level of distrust in who users are. Yet, Musk has done this, allowing users to purchase verification for a mere $8. Essentially, it renders this system completely pointless and undermines the trustworthiness of any ethos any information on Twitter possesses.
In addition to this evident money grab, the excessive layoffs Musk has made since
taking over the platform only two weeks ago are expected to lead to numerous lawsuits for the company. Over 50 percent of Twitter’s former employee base no longer work for the company. In addition to lawsuits, though, this will impose severe consequences on Twitter’s abilities to moderate content, keep the platform running and avoid outages. Additionally, they will impose a severe toll on the lives of thousands formerly employed, many of whom are not expected to receive either pay for their last weeks of work or bonuses slated to come to them in November. The evident consequences to free speech and ability to trust information sources aside, this sheer disregard for workers is, quite frankly, a horrifying sign for the future of all of those working at the company and, in turn, for the company as a whole.
It is not simply far-fetched speculation, either, that the incredible damage Musk has
already done to Twitter since acquiring it, may ultimately lead to its downfall. Musk himself, in fact, has allegedly told employees that it is quite possible the company will end up bankrupt within the year, potentially bringing upon the end of a 16-year era marked by a rapid rise to popularity and, until now, a remarkable staying power only present in a handful of other platforms. Like the wings of the little blue bird he has fired at, Musk seems to have flown too close to the sun — and with him, others will likely go.
There is only one remaining way to find out Twitter’s fate— watch, keep fingers crossed, and wait.
