After months of controversy, Elon Musk is now at the helm of one of the most influential social networks on the planet, which he promises to unlock “enormous potential.”
What changes can we expect from Tesla’s billionaire chief executive and SpaceX founder for the platform?
New Boss
According to multiple US media outlets, one of Musk’s first decisions was to fire Twitter chief executive Parag Aggarwal, chief financial officer Ned Segal and head of legal affairs Vijay Gade.
Billionaire entrepreneurs have to find alternatives.
“Musk is in the unenviable position of convincing veteran executives to work for him on a platform he has publicly disparaged,” said Jasmine Enberg, an analyst at Insider Intelligence.
Musk will assume the role of CEO of Twitter, at least initially.
He will have to deal with the employees concerned. According to the Washington Post, Musk wants to cut the workforce by 75 percent (or about 5,500 employees).
“The mood on Twitter is tense, employees are worried about layoffs,” Enberg said. “Product and even engineering teams can experience upheaval.”
Freedom of Expression
A self-described “free speech totalitarian,” Musk said Thursday that he wants to transform Twitter into a platform that is “warm and welcoming to all” and not a “free-for-all.”
He has criticized what he sees as the moderation of offensive content, leading to what he claims is censorship of right-wing and far-right voices.
Scott Kessler of ThirdBridge said, “The experts we spoke with have recommended nearly 600 people on Twitter itself and thousands of third-party affiliates working to moderate the platform’s content. “
“Musk has publicly advocated for initiatives to be run by algorithms rather than people,” he added.
The Tesla boss also hinted that former US President Donald Trump, who was suspended from the platform after an attack on Capitol Hill in early 2021, could be allowed to return.
Trump wrote on his social network Truth Social on Friday that Twitter was “in good hands.”
One of Musk’s other pet peeves is the issue of fake accounts. It threatened to pull out of the deal on non-authentic or “bot” accounts but did not reveal what it would do to combat them.
‘Adverse’
Another challenge for Elon Musk is to improve the financial health of Twitter, which has faced sluggish growth, even recording a net loss in the second quarter.
In April, Musk outlined various options for generating more revenue: expanding paid subscriptions, monetizing the spread of popular tweets or paying content creators.
In a letter published Thursday, the entrepreneur called on Twitter’s advertisers to work together to “build something extraordinary,” stressing the importance of welcoming a wide diversity of opinions to the platform.
“Mr. Musk has signaled in his latest publicity stunt that he wants to throw the kitchen sink at Twitter to attract new users,” said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and market analyst at Hargreaves Lansdowne. Noted.
“But he will face an enormous challenge to maintain and generate revenue, given that he wants to give as much free rein to the controversial views in this ‘global town hall’ he often does.” are undesirable for advertisers.”
Some civic groups are also calling on major brands to use their influence to prevent Musk from providing a platform for radical speech.
“Considering that advertising reportedly accounts for 90 percent of Twitter’s revenue, it’s clear that the power to hold Musk accountable should he ignore the platform’s protections against harassment, abuse and misinformation. withdraws, so it’s in the hands of Twitter’s top advertisers,” argued Media Matters for America, a nonprofit watchdog group.
