WASHINGTON: Elon Musk’s transfer to desert his buy of Twitter has been greeted with a mixture of aid and disappointment throughout the political spectrum, with many criticising the Tesla founder however others applauding his “exposure” of the influential messaging platform.
The announcement of the deal valued at US$44bil (RM194.78bil) in late April sparked fears the platform would see a surge in abuse and disinformation after Musk – a self-proclaimed free speech absolutist – stated he would largely let anybody say something allowed by regulation on Twitter.
Musk’s announcement on July 8 that he not needs to purchase Twitter triggered celebration by advocacy teams that had launched a marketing campaign to cease the wealthiest man on the planet from going via with the acquisition.
“A Twitter under Musk’s leadership would have ripped open Pandora’s box and reopened the floodgates for hate and baseless conspiracy theories – making the platform, and the country a more dangerous place,” stated Bridget Todd, communications director at UltraViolet, an advocacy group.
The deal breakdown “is a welcome reprieve for women, people of colour and members of the LGBTQ+ community”.
Nicole Gill, co-founder and govt director of the left-leaning watchdog Accountable Tech, slammed Musk’s bid as “a chaotic crusade”.
“Our information ecosystem, safety, and democracy cannot remain at the whim of unaccountable billionaires,” she stated.
But hopes had been dashed for others who believed Musk’s stearing of the platform would result in a lower in measures geared toward curbing bullying, lies and different abuses deemed politically motivated and anti-free speech.
“The party is really over here. The purge is coming,” tweeted conservative commentator Dave Rubin.
Donald Trump Jr, the son of the previous president, predicted “censorship” at Twitter “will be back tenfold”.
“Zero chance of free thought or speech there at this point,” he stated on his father’s fledgling Truth Social platform, launched after he was booted from his most well-liked medium the place he’d amassed some 88.7 million followers.
The former president was banned from Twitter following accusations he had used it to incite his followers to assault the US Capitol on Jan 6 final yr.
While Musk stated he would elevate the ban on the elder Trump, the guy billionaire stated he would keep on with Truth Social – a message he reiterated on Friday.
“THE TWITTER DEAL IS DEAD, LONG LIVE THE ‘TRUTH’,” he posted on Truth Social.
Another conservative Twitter competitor, GETTR, additionally took the chance to tout itself as an alternate platform that may “protect online freedom of expression”.
CEO Jason Miller praised Musk “for further exposing the incurable, rotting, politically discriminatory culture” inside Twitter.
The deal could also be off however the Musk-Twitter tug-of-war is way from over, as the corporate says it would pursue authorized motion to implement the settlement. – AFP
