In a surprising turn of events, Americans and activists across the world have taken to Twitter to vent their anger and disapproval of Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter. People are accusing Elon Musk of hiding behind freedom of speech to gag them and control what they could say by acquiring one of the world’s biggest social media platforms, Twitter.
Elon Musk on Monday acquired Twitter in a $44 billion deal following weeks of criticism and condemnation concerning Twitter’s adherence to its free speech policy. The billionaire, who had earlier refused calls to block Russian government access to Starlinks internet, dumped $2.9 billion on a 9.2% stake in the company to alert the world to his readiness and determination to ensure freedom of speech across the world.
After turning down an invitation to join the company’s board of directors, Musk called for a structural change across the board and eventually made an offer to own the company to allow him implement the changes. These changes include delisting Twitter from New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).
He said “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.”
Musk’s offer wasn’t immediately accepted by the Twitter board that seemingly despised him for his gut and unconventional approach to business matters. Sensing a possible turndown, Musk announced he has secured a financial option of $46.5 billion and would attempt to acquire Twitter directly from shareholders if the board continues to ignore his offer.
On Monday, exactly four days to Twitter’s earnings report for the first quarter of 2022, the board reached a $44 billion agreement with Musk. A move that I will liken to Robinhood’s strategy when it listed Shiba Inu and other three cryptocurrencies following Goldman Sachs’s call to sell Hood Stock.
However, social media darling, Musk is presently being accused of acquiring Twitter to control freedom of speech like Jeff Bezos and his other fellow billionaires.
Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of Amazon Inc, the world’s largest retail company, purchased Washington Post in 2013 and has since been blamed for using his media company to attack certain high profile individuals like President Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States of America. Some of Washington’s posts are Is Trump mentally ill? Or is America? Psychiatrists weigh in, President Trump has made 1,628 false or misleading claims over 298 days, President Trump has made more than 20,000 false or misleading claims, and many more.
Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire owner of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and other global platforms, was also mentioned among billionaires acquiring mass communication media in an effort to control freedom of speech.
Surprisingly, Jeff Bezos was the first to take a dig at Musk. Bezos had insinuated that the Twitter acquisition would give China more leverage given that is Tesla’s second-largest market after the United States.
Jeff Bezos, however, came back two hours later to respond No to his own question after a lot of harsh replies and media publication.
