After months of controversy, Elon Musk has become the head of one of the world’s most influential social networks, vowing to unleash its “enormous potential”.
What will change and what can we expect for the platform from the billionaire, CEO of Tesla and founder of SpaceX.
New president
One of Musk’s first decisions was the dismissal of Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal, its chief financial officer, Ned Segal, and its chief legal officer, Vijaya Gadi, according to several US media outlets.
The billionaire entrepreneur will now have to find alternatives to them.
“Musk is in the unenviable position of having to convince veteran CEOs to work for him on a platform he has publicly belittled,” said Insider Intelligence analyst Jasmin Enberg.
According to Bloomberg, Musk will personally take over as Twitter’s CEO, at least initially.
Musk will have to deal with anxious employees as he wants to reduce the workforce at the platform by 75% (equivalent to about 5,500 employees), according to the “Washington Post.”
“Tension is dominating the mood on Twitter, as employees fear layoffs,” Enberg said. “It could bring about changes in the teams responsible for products and even engineering.”
freedom of expression
Musk, a self-described advocate of “absolute freedom of speech,” said Thursday that he seeks to turn Twitter into a “friendly and welcoming” platform, not a “free hell for all.”
He criticized what he sees as excessive supervision of content, which he considers leads to censorship of right-wing and hard-right voices.
“Experts we spoke with indicated that approximately 600 people at Twitter itself and thousands more with affiliations with third parties are working to moderate the platform’s content,” said Scott Kessler of Third Bridge.
“Musk has publicly advocated the idea that algorithmic solutions drive these processes rather than people.”
The Tesla chief also hinted at the possibility of allowing the return of former US President Donald Trump, who was dismissed from the podium after the attack on Capitol Hill in early 2021.
On Friday, Trump commented on his private social network, “Truth Social”, by saying that Twitter is “in good hands.”
Fake accounts are another issue that annoys Musk. He threatened to abandon the deal due to fake or automated accounts but did not say what he intends to do to combat it.
Improving the financial position
Another challenge facing Elon Musk is improving the financial position of Twitter, which is facing slow growth, and even recorded a net loss in the second quarter of the year.
In April, Musk mentioned options for more revenue, such as boosting paid subscriptions, monetizing Trending Tweets, or paying creators.
In a message published Thursday, Musk called on Twitter advertisers to work together to “build something exceptional,” stressing the importance of giving space for different opinions on the platform.
Susanna Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown noted that “in his last publicity stunt, Musk indicated that he wanted to do everything possible to attract new users.”
“But he will face the huge challenge of maintaining and building revenue, given that the controversial views he seems to seek to unleash more in this ‘global public arena’ are unpalatable to advertisers.”
Some civil society groups are calling on major brands to use their influence to prevent Musk from providing a platform for more radical discourse.
“Given that ads reportedly contribute to 90 percent of Twitter’s revenue, it is clear that the power to hold Musk to account if he backs out of the platform’s actions to protect against harassment, attacks and misinformation lies in the hands of Twitter’s largest advertisers,” the nonprofit group Media Matters for America said.
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