The businessman Elon Musk, listed as the richest man in the world, bought the digital platform Twitter for 44,000 million dollars with the promise of guaranteeing “freedom of opinion” without the forum becoming a “hell”. One of his first measures was to fire different managers. The EU warns that it must follow its rules to operate in Europe
“The bird has been released,” he tweeted. Elon Musk on Thursday night, after completing the purchase of the social network Twitter for 44,000 million dollars.
the bird is freed
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022
After months of soap opera, the richest man in the world immediately fired the CEO, Parag Agrawal, as well as the CFO, Ned Segal, and the head of legal affairs, Vijaya Gadde, according to Washington Post and CNBC. Gadde.
Musk had until Friday to close the purchase of the social network, otherwise a trial would have been held in November. The deal had been going on since he launched a $44 billion takeover offer in late April, which Twitter reluctantly accepted.
The billionaire later tried to unilaterally reverse the agreement, accusing the company of having lied to him, but the social network’s board of directors took the matter to court.
Until earlier this month, a few days after the opening of the process that Twitter seemed set to win, it finally proposed to close the deal at the initially agreed price.
The richest man in the world went to the company’s headquarters on Wednesday, and on his Twitter profile he changed his presentation to “Chief Twit”, an irony since “twit” means “cretin” in English. He then retweeted a photo of himself surrounded by Blue Bird Network employees at an office cafe.
At Twitter headquarters’ coffee bar,@elonmusk pic.twitter.com/vy5Cw7zttf
— Walter Isaacson (@WalterIsaacson) October 27, 2022
But after the dismissals were published in the media, several employees of the Californian group supported the outgoing administration. “Thanks to Parag Agrawl, Vijaya Gadde and Ned Segal for their collective contribution to Twitter,” wrote Biz Stone, co-founder of the social network, for example, saluting his “immense talent” and his “humanity”.
To Musk’s tweet “the bird has been released”, the European Commissioner for the Internal Market, Frenchman Thierry Breton, replied that “In Europe, the bird will fly according to our [UE] rules”.
In Europe, the bird will fly by our ?? rules.#DSA https://t.co/95W3qzYsal
— Thierry Breton (@ThierryBreton) October 28, 2022
Freedom of expression
Elon Musk tried to reassure advertisers on Thursday that he wants to allow multiple opinions on the social network, without making it a “hellish” platform where everything will be allowed.
“It is important for the future of civilization to have a public space online where a wide variety of opinions can debate in a healthy way, without resorting to violence,” he wrote in a message to brands, which provide the majority of Twitter revenue.
Musk has indicated that he plans to relax content moderation, fueling fears from his detractors about an increase in abuse and misinformation on the platform.
It opened, among other things, the door to a Return of former US President Donald Trump, vetoed after the assault on Capitol Hill by his followers in 2021. Some supporters of the former Republican president welcomed the potential change in direction of Twitter. “FREE SPEECH!!!” Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far-right congresswoman, tweeted Thursday.
But this position causes rejection among certain advertisers who usually prefer to see their advertisements associated with moderate content. The businessman also stated that he does not seek to “make money” with this purchase but “try to help humanity”, and maintains that it is essential for the company to show advertisements that correspond to the “needs” of Internet users.
The controversial businessman also wants to strengthen the fight against spam and made cryptic references to “X”, his vision of a global application that includes messaging, social networks, financial services… as WeChat does in China.
According to an article in Washington Post Last week, Musk told investors that he expected, in the long term, to lay off 75% of Twitter’s 7,500 employees.
According to internal company figures, more than 700 employees have already left the Californian group since June.
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