An Elon Musk-owned Twitter is a scary prospect for the establishment
A disruptor and visionary, Elon Musk’s actions and personality embody the spirit of Silicon Valley’s once-vaunted mentality of disruptive techno-Darwinism. While much of the tech industry has become quite content to embrace the certainty offered by the establishment once they made their billions, Musk – now the world’s richest man – is a one-man earthquake, and Twitter has become ground zero for his latest shakeup.
Musk’s philosophy of going outside the norm and doing things his own way is a net positive for humanity, as exemplified through his work on electric vehicles, renewable energy, and space travel – and his attempt to curtail the destruction of free speech through the acquisition of Twitter is no different.
“Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy,” Musk declared, weeks before he made his purchase of Twitter stock. And on Thursday, Musk announced that he wants to take over the company in its entirety.
“I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” wrote Musk in his letter to the company’s board of directors. “However, since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company.”