Elon Musk, the wealthiest man in the world, has completed the process of buying Twitter. This deal was bumpy, and it was unclear if the purchase would do it. The colorful businessman was forced to complete the company’s acquisition and did not try to hide his hostility towards the Twitter managing board. After entering the company’s headquarters with a sink, an actual sink so things would “sink in,” Musk fired all the top management of Twitter and made the company’s programmers print out the code of the platform. Musk also announced that he’s planning to charge 8$ a month from users with a verified Twitter account.
Many Twitter users are concerned that Musk’s platform ownership will worsen and even “kill” it. Musk is very clear about the fact that he plans to make significant changes in the company but insists it will be for the best.Buying twitter was not necessarily a business move for Musk but an ideological move. Musk is a prominent free speech activist, and therefore he promised that Twitter under him will be a one hundred percent free speech platform.
Although encouraging freedom of speech is positive, Musk abuses this critical right to spread hatred and fear in practice. Musk brought former President Donald Trump back to Twitter after he was kicked off the platform for encouraging violent activity at Capitol Hill events.
In a way that worries many anti-racism activists, since the purchase, the use of the “N” word has increased significantly. Musk even tweeted that he does not believe that the husband of the politician Nancy Pelosi was attacked by opponents but rather by his gay lover and shared with his followers a link to a conspiracy article that allegedly proves his claim.
Another question arises, do we in Malta have reason to worry because of this story? Or should we enjoy watching from the sidelines and even make some popcorn?
Even though the use of Twitter in the country is relatively small, there is a reason for concern and even a reason for cautious optimism.
Social networks tend to influence one another, influencing trends from TikTok to Instagram. Therefore, we may also feel Musk’s influence on the Maltese discourse.
We do not know whether the discourse will become more racist, violent, and unkind. Or whether the introduction of freedom of speech will improve it and enable citizens to express themselves without fear of the authorities on the networks. Time will tell.
