Musk Denies Reviving Ye on Twitter

ON FRIDAY, Twitter CEO Elon Musk stated that he had no involvement in restoring Ye, aka Kanye West’s account, which was terminated earlier this month for making anti-Semitic slurs.

The billionaire stated that Twitter had restored the rapper’s account, now known as Ye, before completing the social media platform’s $44 billion buyout late Thursday. “They did not consult with or notify me,” Musk tweeted.

Ye, who has over 30 million Twitter followers, has recently courted controversy by publicly terminating big corporate alliances and launching social media outbursts against other celebrities.

Musk wrote, “Welcome back to Twitter, my friend!” on Oct. 8 after Ye posted on the network for the first time in two years after his Instagram account was suspended for anti-Semitic tweets. Twitter later suspended his account and deleted one of his tweets.

Musk took control of Twitter ruthlessly on Thursday, sacking key executives but providing little insight on how he plans to fulfill the lofty goals he has set for the popular social media network. more info

Musk, on the other hand, announced on Friday that Twitter will form a content moderation group with “widely different opinions.”

“There will be no big content choices or account reinstatement before that council convenes,” he stressed.

Earlier last month, Ye decided to buy Parler, a social networking platform popular among conservatives in the United States.

“The Bird is Freed”

Meanwhile, Musk has promised to protect all forms of free expression but has also struck a more conciliatory tone with world leaders seeking to reign in Big Tech, alarming activists and former Twitter executives.

Three hours after Musk announced success with the tweet, “The bird is released,” European Commissioner Thierry Breton retorted, “In Europe, the bird flies by our laws.”

He reshared a May video in which he said on Twitter that he agreed with the European Union’s new digital media regulation, which will force Big Tech to do more to combat illegal content or face fines of up to 6% of global revenue in one of the world’s most severe approaches to regulating content online.

On Friday, regulators in India reminded Musk of the rule of law. “Regardless of who owns the platforms, our norms and legislation for intermediaries remain the same,” said Rajeev Chandrasekhar, India’s minister of state for electronics and information technology.

For years, Twitter has fought a “complex war” with the government to safeguard free expression online, and this battle would be jeopardized with Musk in charge, according to former Twitter board member Jason Goldman.

According to Goldman, Tesla’s booming business in China, which made $14 billion last year, might put Twitter at risk.

“It’s quite frightening that he’ll be the one liaising with the Chinese government and potentially passing over information on users,” he added.

He added that Twitter has professionals who assess government data demands, but Musk has displayed disrespect for these experts.

“Whether or not (former US President Donald) Trump returns, I think that’s a parlour game,” Goldman remarked. “What will happen is that a dissident’s IP address will be dropped on the floor.”

According to current and former employees who talked with Reuters, Musk’s ambitions to reduce the guard rails prevalent on all social media platforms would result in a flood of vile, damaging, and potentially illegal content on Twitter. It has already struggled to identify and remove child porn. more info

Employees believe that members of Twitter’s trust and safety team, which includes content moderators, will be among Musk’s largest job cutbacks.

“Imagine a world without all those people,” one employee stated. “This is going to be a hellscape.”

Advertisers on Twitter

On the night of the deal’s expected closure, he tweeted an open letter to advertisers: “Twitter can’t possibly become a free-for-all hellscape where everything goes with no consequences!

… Twitter strives to be the most trusted advertising platform in the world, strengthening your brand and expanding your business.”

They cite Musk’s proposal to restore Trump’s account as a key hurdle to investing in Twitter.

After the attack on the United States Capitol on January 6, 2021, Twitter suspended Trump indefinitely due to the potential of additional inciting of violence.

Welcoming Trump back might alienate moderate and liberal-leaning users, driving away large household brands that try to promote products and appeal to people across the political spectrum, according to Mark DiMassimo, CEO of ad agency DiMassimo Goldstein.

Some ad agencies and businesses were already dubious and anxious about Twitter’s future during a presentation for advertisers in May.

Musk cannot afford to provoke a backlash from a group that produces 90% of Twitter’s revenue unless he finds new sources of money.

Musk’s largest gamble is based on one of China’s biggest hits from the 2010s. “Buying Twitter accelerates the development of X, the everything app,” Musk tweeted earlier this month.

The concept of an all-in-one app, sometimes known as a super app, began in Asia with companies such as WeChat, allowing users to send messages and make payments, buy online, and hail a cab. The all-in-one service gave consumers few options in a location where Google, Facebook, and other services were restricted.

According to a source briefed on the topic, Musk has told investors that he aims to construct one that will sell premium subscriptions to lessen dependency on adverts, allow content creators to make money, and enable payments.

There are no super-apps in the United States since the cost of entry is high, and there are many other app options, according to Scott Galloway, co-host of the tech podcast Pivot and a marketing professor at New York University.

Galloway believes that Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc’s Google, which dominate the app stores on iPhones and Android phones, regard themselves as super apps and would unlikely allow other super apps to develop. As an illustration of a barrier to entry, consider Apple’s recent rejection of Spotify’s intention to offer audiobooks.

Goldman said payments, which normally need identification verification, might complicate a site that has allowed anonymity to grow, making Twitter a strong instrument for political activism in dangerous situations.

“(Super applications) are not conceivable at this stage of mobile internet evolution,” he continued.

Source: Reuters