Gadgets Africa
  • News
    Apple introduces Apple Pay Later

    Apple introduces Apple Pay Later

    Automaker Lucid Group lays off 1,300 workers

    Automaker Lucid Group lays off 1,300 workers

    Paystack co-founder Shola Akinlade acquires Danish football club

    Paystack co-founder Shola Akinlade acquires Danish football club

    AI company Cerebras releases ChatGPT-like models

    AI company Cerebras releases ChatGPT-like models

    China urges Apple to strengthen data security, privacy protection

    China urges Apple to strengthen data security, privacy protection

    FTX's Bankman-Fried faces new indictment of bribing Chinese officials

    FTX’s Bankman-Fried faces new indictment of bribing Chinese officials

    Google to launch new features for teachers, students

    Google to launch new features for teachers, students

    Substack launches community fund for writers to own stake in company

    Substack launches community fund for writers to own stake in company

    Alphabet seeks dismissal of US antitrust lawsuit against Google

    Alphabet seeks dismissal of US antitrust lawsuit against Google

  • Apps
  • Cryptocurrency
  • featured
  • Telecommunications
  • Gadgets
  • FinTech
  • Tech leaders
Gadgets Africa
No Result
View All Result

Twitter too important to be controlled by one person, say critics

by Agency Report
April 16, 2022
in News, Tech leaders
Reading Time: 3 mins read
Why I am buying Twitter - Elon Musk

Elon Musk

Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on Telegram

Elon Musk’s shock offer to buy Twitter drew immediate fears Thursday – and some cheers – over putting the platform in the hands of a mercurial billionaire who advocates fewer limits on what people can post.

Tech watchers reacted to the Tesla chief’s proposal for one of the world’s most influential information exchanges with immediate worries about accountability, public discourse and even how it could impact democracy.

“Twitter is too important to be owned and controlled by a single person,” tweeted venture capitalist Fred Wilson. “The opposite should be happening. Twitter should be decentralized.”

However, the $43 billion pitch faces uncertainty on several fronts, including potential board or shareholder resistance, as well as lack of information on how Musk would actually fund the all-cash offer.

Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has already come out against the proposal, saying it’s too low, drawing a sharp reply from Musk questioning Saudi Arabia’s “views on journalistic freedom of speech.”

Still, Musk provided some detail Thursday on his vision, saying he’d like to lift the veil on the algorithm that runs on the platform, even allowing people to look through it and suggest changes.

He also reiterated his stance favoring a more hands-off approach to policing the platform’s content, a thorny matter that has fueled criticism of Twitter, especially for the highest-profile instances of violations of its terms of service.

Donald Trump’s critics had long called for him to be kicked off the site, yet his supporters then voiced their outrage after he was barred over worries his tweets could spur violence.

“I do think that we want to be just very reluctant to delete things and just be very cautious with permanent bans. Timeouts, I think are better,” Musk told a conference on Thursday, without addressing Trump directly.

“I think we want to really have, like a sort of obsession and reality, that speech is as free as reasonably possible,” he added.

– ‘Sounds ridiculous’ –
Critics argued that free speech absolutism on social media can be very messy in the real world.

“I am frightened by the impact on society and politics if Elon Musk acquires Twitter,” tweeted Max Boot, a Washington Post columnist.

“He seems to believe that on social media anything goes. For democracy to survive, we need more content moderation, not less,” Boot added.

Yet supporters of Musk’s hostile takeover bid came to the exact opposite conclusion, welcoming the prospect.

“This is the best news for free speech in years!” tweeted Nigel Farage, a populist British politician who helped lead the campaign for Brexit.

American conservatives like Senator Ted Cruz also voiced their backing for less moderation.

“If the left thinks they’re right, why are they so terrified of free speech?” he tweeted in reply to Boot’s criticism.

Yet both left and right of the political spectrum in the United States have been skeptical of the power concentrated in the hands of social media platforms and their lack of accountability.

US national lawmakers have been deadlocked for so long over how to regulate Big Tech that individual states have launched their own rules, probes and lawsuits.

“Twitter as a private company just reduces the little public accountability social media have as fiduciaries to the public,” tweeted Maya Zehavi, a tech entrepreneur.

Facebook’s parent firm Meta is public, but founder Mark Zuckerberg has effective control over the company because of the shares he owns.

Critics have repeatedly argued that a barrier to Facebook evolving past its reputation as a troubled but profitable social network is the ability for its head to remain in power.

The idea of taking Twitter, which is currently publicly owned, toward a structure that would concentrate power in Musk’s hands struck some as contradictory.

It has been called the world’s town square for the exchange of ideas, and thus a place where the right to speak is primary.

“‘I have to buy and take the public square private in order to save it!’ Try saying it out loud. It sounds ridiculous,” tweeted Renee DiResta, technical research manager at Stanford Internet Observatory.

AFP

Tags: Donald TrumpElon Musk
ADVERTISEMENT

Related Posts

Apple introduces Apple Pay Later
News

Apple introduces Apple Pay Later

by Alex Omenye
March 28, 2023
Automaker Lucid Group lays off 1,300 workers
News

Automaker Lucid Group lays off 1,300 workers

by Alex Omenye
March 28, 2023
Paystack co-founder Shola Akinlade acquires Danish football club
News

Paystack co-founder Shola Akinlade acquires Danish football club

by Alex Omenye
March 28, 2023
AI company Cerebras releases ChatGPT-like models
News

AI company Cerebras releases ChatGPT-like models

by Alex Omenye
March 28, 2023
Next Post
iPhone, Macbook makers halt Shanghai production over Covid

Firm establishes academy for device repairs, others

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended.

Nigeria ousts kenya atop Africa’s crypto adoption rank

Nigeria records $760m crypto trade in 2021 – Paxful

April 28, 2022
How to order, set up Starlink in Nigeria

How to order, set up Starlink in Nigeria

February 7, 2023

Trending.

Facebook to settle privacy suit with $725m

Facebook update gives users control over feeds

October 5, 2022
Nigeria ousts kenya atop Africa’s crypto adoption rank

Cryptocurrency giant Binance gets licence in Bahrain

March 16, 2022
Nigerians overpay for internet, global Study reveals

Nigerians overpay for internet, global study reveals

February 23, 2023
2023: Don’t cut off internet, NGO urges FG

2023: Don’t cut off internet, NGO urges FG

February 9, 2023
Nigerians use PoS 178.9m times in two months –NIBSS report

Nigerians use PoS 178.9m times in two months –NIBSS report

May 3, 2022
Gadgets Africa

© 2023 Gadgets Africa.

Navigate Site

  • News
  • Apps
  • Cryptocurrency
  • featured
  • Telecommunications
  • Gadgets
  • FinTech
  • Tech leaders

Share

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Apps
  • Cryptocurrency
  • featured
  • Telecommunications
  • Gadgets
  • FinTech
  • Tech leaders

© 2023 Gadgets Africa.

Go to mobile version