Based on many of the reactions to billionaire Elon Musk’s offer to buy Twitter last week, you’d think the world was ending when, really, the only thing potentially ending is the Left’s control of the platform — although, for a Democrat, that’s basically the same thing.
After a few cryptic tweets about Twitter’s content moderation policies and whether they contribute to or stifle free speech, Musk made an offer to Twitter’s board of directors last week to buy the company outright. He offered them $43 billion and vowed to take the company private so that he could “unlock” its “potential.” Though he did not elaborate on what his vision for the company might be, he did clarify during an interview afterward that he wants Twitter to serve as “an inclusive arena for free speech” in which people “are able to speak freely within the bounds of the law.”
Right now, Twitter is anything but that. While foreign despots in China and Iran are allowed to spread lies and propaganda on the platform regularly, Twitter has banned a U.S. president, deplatformed countless others for “spreading COVID-19 misinformation,” and stopped users from sharing a news story that contained damning information about the Biden family right before a presidential election. The company has suspended The Babylon Bee for pointing out that a transgender woman was actually a man, as well as the popular account Libs of TikTok for the crime of sharing public videos that were already available to the public on other social media platforms. Its content moderation policies are vague, unequally enforced, and obviously biased in one direction.
Musk knows this, as does Twitter, which is why it is doing everything it can to prevent him from coming in and changing things. The board adopted a so-called poison pill in response to Musk’s offer, which prevents him from increasing his stake in the company beyond 15%, and is reportedly trying to rally shareholders against Musk.
But Musk remains determined — for now, at least. He hinted this week that he might make a tender offer for the company by approaching Twitter’s shareholders directly and buying their stock from them. If he succeeds, he could force the board to sell to him.
Regardless of whether Musk’s offer goes through, there is no question he has forced Twitter and other Big Tech companies to tread lightly. And if this kind of pressure moves Twitter away from its policies of censorship and suppression and forces it to become a better platform, then Musk will have won an important battle.
