Elon Musk’s quote about buying TwitterOnce considered a remote capability, Accepted now.

The billionaire will pay about $ 44 billion for the company in a deal that is expected to be completed this year, according to a Twitter press release on Monday.

Musk was so motivated to buy Twitter that he made “the latest and greatest offer” for the company.a announced that he had a plan B if that failed and personally met with several major Twitter shareholders to convince them of his offer.

Musk offered a $ 54.20 share for Twitter and unveiled his plan to secure $ 46.5 billion to fund his deal. Shares of Twitter rose Monday morning because the company may be close to reaching an agreement with Musk.

So Why was the social media company bought by the richest man in the world, who already runs the electric car company Tesla and the aerospace company SpaceX?

Here’s what he said about his plan and how quickly he could change things.

Why did Elon Musk want to buy Twitter?

Musk said he wants to promote free expression on social media, which he says sees a necessary place to share a vision.

In an interview with TED, shortly after announcing his offer, he expanded his plans.

“I think an inclusive environment for freedom of expression is very important.Said Musk. “Twitter has become a kind of de facto public square, so it is very important for people to have a reality and a perception that they can speak freely within the law.”

Musk has not said whether he will change the permanent ban on former President Donald Trump, who was ousted from the site after the January 6 uprising.

Critics of Musk’s plan have expressed concern that it will allow extremist content on the site., Which Twitter and other social media companies are struggling to eradicate. Musk admitted in an interview with TED that content moderation is not a clear issue.

He said he was thinking Twitter should be “very careful about permanent bans”He added that in his opinion, the waiting time was better.

“Well, I think we want to mislead the word when in doubt. “Because if it is a gray area, I would say it would be better to have a tweet,” he said. “But obviously, in the event that there is a lot of arguing, you are not going to promote this tweet at all. I’m not saying I have all the answers here. “

He repeated it again Shopping on your social network is not about making money.

“My strong intuitive opinion is that having a public platform that is highly trusted and widely inclusive is extremely important for the future of civilization,” he said.

How fast can everything change on Twitter?

Probably not so fast. The deal has yet to be completed, a process that can take weeks or months.

Under federal law, Musk is required to notify Federal Trade Commission regulators and the Department of Justice of Twitter’s acquisition plans. If regulators open a transaction review, this may lead to a delay in closing the purchase.

After this, Musk has promised that Twitter will become personal. Announcing the offer, he said in a presentation to the Securities and Exchange Commission, “After I have made my investment, I now realize that the company is not thriving and will not meet this social imperative in its current form. Twitter needs to be transformed into a private company.

Musk said he wants to retain as many shareholders as the law allows when he takes the company into private ownership. And he has not announced any plans for what the leadership team or potential board of directors might look like, so there are still plenty of open-ended questions about how much Musk will have a direct impact.

What did Musk say about the possible edit button on Twitter?

The edit button is probably one of the most requested features on Twitter. Imagine for a second you were transposed into the karmic driven world of Earl. And then you see the error.

Twitter does not have the ability to edit tweets without deleting or resubmitting them. Musk asked his followers if they wanted an edit button in a Twitter poll, and 73.6 percent of more than 4 million voters said yes.

A day later, Twitter’s communications team confirmed on Twitter that the company was already working on the feature.

“No, we did not get the idea as a result of the poll,” the team wrote on Twitter, winking.

What did Musk say about the greater openness of Twitter’s algorithm?

Musk said he wants Twitter’s algorithm to be more transparent, including allowing people to see if their tweets were promoted or downgraded. He said he wanted the algorithm to recommend whether the tweet was promoted or downgraded as “open source” or available for the public to see and improve. In his view, this would help avoid “behind-the-scenes manipulation.”.

Researchers say this plan is much more complicated than Musk’s proposal seems. And Twitter is already reviewing it.

A former Twitter employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the company had discussed an “algorithm market” where users could choose different ways to view their channels. But attempts to offer more transparency proved difficult, the man said, because of how closely Twitter algorithms relate to other parts of the product. Unlocking it could reveal trade secrets and lead to abuse, the person said.

What could happen to your personal Twitter messages and data?

It is unclear whether Musk will make any changes to the company’s privacy policy. He has not announced any plans to change anything and is likely to have a significant reaction if user data becomes less secure. Presumably, Twitter owns it to control more sensitive user data than it collects from its companies Tesla and SpaceX.

Musk’s own direct messages, or private messages, are made public from time to time. Last year he sent a message to a teenager who had an account tracking his private jet. Musk offered him $ 5,000 to cancel the account. The teenager refused.

(c) 2022, The Washington Post

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