Ever since Elon Musk announced the purchase of Twitter, he has said he has big plans for the platform. And while he has relinquished his role as CEO, Musk has said he wants to make Twitter a platform for “more open and free expression.”
He has also said that he wants to make the platform more profitable: one of the changes for that was the new version of “Twitter Blue” and its verified accounts, which is now a paid service. It remains to be seen how his strategy will work. And that “strategy” also brings with it changes regarding content and freedom of expression.
In this context, Elon Musk claimed on Sunday that Twitter It has “no real choice” to comply with government censorship requests. Despite the fact that he has been criticized “for giving in” to that.
Musk’s comments came in response to a report that Twitter had complied with government requests to remove content in India, Turkey and other countries. Musk has previously said that he wants to make Twitter a more open and free speech platform, and his comments suggest that he is concerned about the platform’s compliance with government censorship requests. However, there is no clear path on how to make Twitter a “freer” space and comply with this.
It’s unclear how Musk will address the issue of government censorship. However, his comments suggest that he is willing to take a stand against government censorship. He added that Twitter would be “very reluctant to remove things” and “would be very wary of permanent bans,” and that the platform would aim to allow all legal speech. Therefore, one would still act with some caution: in order not to fall into legal issues, as noted on CNN.
The idea of a “freer” Twitter
Eliminating Twitter’s content moderation policies would mean anyone could say whatever they wanted on the platform, without fear of being banned or suspended. This could lead to an increase in hate speech, misinformation, and other harmful content.
Making it easy for people to verify their accounts would mean people could create accounts with fake names and identities. This could make it easier for people to spread misinformation and propaganda. There is still no official data regarding this, since the implementation of “Twitter Blue” by subscription.
In the midst of all this, increasing the number of users on Twitter could be difficult. The platform has been struggling to grow in recent years. Musk may need to make changes to the platform to attract new users (even more changes).
The platform currently relies on advertising for the majority of its revenue. However, ad revenue is declining as more people use ad blockers. There is still no data as to whether “Twitter Blue” has been able to contribute to this.