Elon Musk bought Twitter. And now? Neither the social network nor the company that manages it will ever be the same again. To “deal with the changes he needs,” said Tesla’s CEO at the time of his offer, Twitter must be a “private company.” Out of the bag or nothing. The first change, by now certain even if not immediate, will be this: soon Twitter will no longer be listed.
Twitter will say goodbye to the stock market
Becoming private means being freer from rules and constraints. Twitter will no longer be under the eye of the Security and Exchange Commission (the authority that regulates the US markets). The frictions between Musk and the commission are known: in 2018, the Sec-proprio after the announced and never materialized privatization of Tesla-had forbidden Musk from tweeting without prior control to prevent his statements from impacting on Tesla’s stock. . Since then, the richest man on the planet has always made it known what he thinks of the Sec. And he did so yesterday, stating that the commission is “a shameless puppet.”
But privatizing Twitter isn’t just a personal matter. Not being listed, the company it will no longer have to comply with the stringent communications on quarterly data. It will therefore have less pressure from shareholders, who tend to demand short-term results, and will not be subject to market fluctuations.
In essence, it means being able look at a medium-term evolution, without worrying too much about turnover, profits and user growth. It is certainly not the first time that a company has abandoned the stock market. The anomaly lies in the fact that taking the plunge is not an investment company but a single man.
A weaker board of directors
Another change: the board. The board of directors is an expression of the shareholder structure. It would therefore be physiological a change, which could also affect CEO Parag Agrawal. Without forgetting the “Musk variable”. In a tweet on April 18, he made it known that, in the event of a purchase, the pay of the directors would be “zero”.
The composition of the board will change. And not just for salary. Musk, as his habit and as his faculty, will want trustworthy and condescending people at the command table. Will he also be CEO? Driving three companies like Twitter, Tesla and Space X would be a feat, but it’s not out of the question. On the other hand, the role of sole owner in a private company makes him a monarch who does not need a plate outside the door to command.
Content moderation
He said it several times and repeated it even after the operation was over: “Freedom of speech is the foundation of a democracy”. And again: “I hope that even my worst critic will remain on Twitter”.
I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 25, 2022
The central issue of the new ownership is about content moderation. Musk has always flaunted his absolutism: anyone should be able to write anything to prevent social media from becoming arbiter of public discussion. The problem has existed for years. But absolutism will have to clash with practice: in addition to content against the law (such as violence and child pornography) there are the large gray areas of hoaxes and hate speech.
Trump’s eventual return to the platform is only the most famous case, but not the most problematic. As a private company, Twitter will also be able to escape the SEC but not the increasingly stringent rules on content control, from the EU Digital Service Act to US bills that go in the same direction.
The new features
Last but not least: how will Twitter’s functionality change? Much awaited is the possibility of correcting one’s tweets even after publication. Musk launched a survey among his followers and the company confirmed that the so-called “edit button” is being tested. Until now, the functionality had been sidelined for one reason only: the changes, as founder Jack Dorsey has repeatedly repeated, could have tainted public discussion. Given Musk’s more casual attitude, Twitter may change his mind.
In the statement that made the purchase official, the new owner mentioned two other changes: “open source algorithms to increase trust”, battle “against bots”. In March, Musk said he was “concerned” about a “de facto algorithm bias”. In essence, Twitter would promote the visibility of some content and discourage others. “How do we know what’s really going on?”. The solution would therefore be open and more transparent algorithms.
If our twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 21, 2022
Finally bots and fake accounts. “We will beat spam or die trying,” he tweeted on April 21. Profiles that don’t have real people behind them is a problem that Twitter has been battling for some time. In 2017, research from the universities of Southern California and Indiana estimated that bots made up between 9 and 15 percent of accounts. A serious battle against automated profiles could reduce the number of active users. But, with the private company no longer forced to release the data every quarter, it would no longer be a problem.