You are currently viewing Musk takeover of Twitter sparks worries, cheers

Musk takeover of Twitter sparks worries, cheers


(FILES) In this file illustration photo taken on October 4, 2022, a phone screen displays a photo of Elon Musk with the Twitter logo shown in the background in Washington, DC. The New York Stock Exchange did not permit trading on Twitter on October 28, 2022 after Elon Musk completed a $44 billion takeover of the social media platform. Twitter was listed among the companies experiencing a “trading halt,” according to an NYSE notice that said the merger was “effective.”
(Photo by OLIVIER DOULIERY / AFP)

Photo license  Purchase photo

(AFP) – Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter sparked both concern and celebrations among users Friday, with many expecting radical changes in how the platform regulates comments.

US billionaire Mark Cuban, known for his role on the “Shark Tank” entrepeneur reality show, said sardonically that he was “looking forward to” Musk captaining Twitter.

“He is a ready, fire, aim entrepreneur who will… flex his independence to show everyone who’s in charge.”

Prominent media critic Jeff Jarvis warned that Musk’s immediate management sackings at the company presaged a new approach.

“He’s not ‘cleaning house.’ He is purging the company of responsible adults with expertise and experience,” Jarvis wrote. “Be careful of your words.”

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who exchanged sarcastic tweets over the Ukraine war a week ago, wished Musk “good luck… in overcoming political bias and ideological dictatorship on Twitter.”

“And quit that Starlink in Ukraine business,” he added, referring to the Musk-controlled, satellite-based internet servce now used heavily by Ukrainians.

Activist and write Amy Siskind said Musk could actually dull Twitter’s popularity by micromanaging it.

“You are now at whim of a narcissist man child, whose ego is being puffed up by dictators. What could go wrong?” she wrote.

Indian actress Kangana Ranaut, who was banned from Twitter in May 2021 for violating policies against hateful and abusive behavior, urged supporters to lobby for her reinstatement now that Musk is in charge.

Former president Donald Trump, who was also banned from Twitter and has since moved his commentary to Truth Social, the much smaller social media platform he helped create, said Musk’s takeover was a good thing.

“I am very happy that Twitter is now in sane hands, and will no longer be run by Radical Left Lunatics and Maniacs that truly hate our country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

“Twitter must now work hard to rid itself of all of the bots and fake accounts that have hurt it so badly. It will be much smaller, but better.”

Trump, who helped make Twitter a force in politics before and during his presidency, sometimes tweeting a dozen times a day, did not say he was ready to return to the platform.

© Agence France-Presse





Source link