Wishful thinking on sea change in Twitter

Elon Musk’s decision to buy Twitter at $44 billion has not surprised anyone. He has been showing interest in the microblogging platform for quite some time, first, as a user and, later, as an investor. Few knew that he held a 9 per cent share until it was disclosed. Reports had said that he wanted to buy and the 11-member board was not interested in closing a deal with him. Eventually, on Monday, when the board struck the deal, it was as smooth as butter. Of course, it will take a few months before Twitter changes hands, and all the statutory paperwork is completed at both the buyer and the seller’s levels. Nothing extraordinary is expected during the transition. Although Twitter is not as large as Facebook or as growing as Instagram, it commands greater respect. For instance, in India, political leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi communicate to the people through this medium. Modi has one of the world’s largest followers on Twitter. No wonder the government uses the microblogging service to make periodic announcements on governance issues to the public. For all political parties and governments, Twitter has become a must-have tool. Musk, who is the richest man on earth, has himself a large following on Twitter, comparable to those of heads of states and governments. He also finds time to tweet. It is in this context that his decision to buy Twitter should be seen.

What matters is not who owns Twitter but what changes, Musk introduces, as the new owner. Soon after the deal was struck, he said, “free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.” This bodes well for Twitter, though Musk is personally not as liberal as he pretends to be. He has strong opinions but he does not tolerate dissent, except to a very limited extent. Musk is an absolutist when it comes to free speech so much so that he questioned Twitter’s decision to block then US President Donald Trump’s Twitter handle, particularly when he took questionable decisions to stay on in power despite a clear vote against him. He has promised not to run Twitter as just a profit-driven commercial enterprise. When an organisation runs in so many countries, it is compelled to follow the rules and regulations of those countries. Whatever promises he makes have to be seen in the context in which it functions. Since the taste of the pudding is in the eating, one has to wait to know how Twitter fares under Elon Musk!