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Writer's pictureEditor Darren Birks

ELON MUSK BUYS TWITTER TO SAVE FREE SPEECH


"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."


The board of Twitter has agreed to a $44bn (£34.5bn) takeover offer from the billionaire Elon Musk. The billionaire has wasted no time in addressing his reason for buying Twitter in the first place announcing that there will be 'a series of changes' from relaxing its content restrictions to eradicating fake accounts. Twitter employees are said to be 'horrified' by the move.


Elon Musk is the world's richest man, according to Forbes magazine, with an estimated net worth of $273.6bn mostly due to his shareholding in electric vehicle maker Tesla which he runs. He also leads the aerospace firm SpaceX.


"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," Mr Musk said in a statement announcing the deal.


"I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans," he added.


"Twitter has tremendous potential - I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it." View original tweet on Twitter


The move by Musk comes as Twitter has become increasingly authoritarian, and ultra-left wing effectively stifling free speech in favour of progressive ideologies. On Twitter you aren't allowed to say Trans-women aren't real women, or show evidence that Covid-19 Vaccines are killing people, but you are allowed to make death threats against JK Rowling and Jewish people.


Twitter banned former US President Donald Trump from its platform because it didn't like his political views in a move that proved the tech giant has too much power. While the takeover has been cheered by his followers, Mr Trump on Monday told Fox News he had no plans to re-join the platform and would instead stay on his own social network, Truth Social. Bret Taylor, chair of Twitter's board, said it had full assessed Mr Musk's offer and it was "the best path forward for Twitter's stockholders".


In his offer document, Musk told Twitter's board: "I don't have confidence in management." a indication that he will remove them as soon as he takes over.


In his filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, Mr Musk said he had invested in Twitter because "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."

"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."


He added: "Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it."

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