Elon Musk Owns Twitter, Stock in Blue-Check Tears Skyrockets
The deal is done; Elon Musk now officially owns Twitter. To reaffirm his intentions with the social media platform, he tweeted this yesterday, the first day of his reign:
the bird is freed
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022
In a message to advertisers, Musk gave some details on his vision for Twitter’s speech codes and ad experience, which include “adhering to the laws of the land” and tailoring ads to specific users’ wants and needs.
Dear Twitter Advertisers pic.twitter.com/GMwHmInPAS
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 27, 2022
It sounds like he would mostly seek moderation against outright abuse or things like that rather than disagreeing with CNN about the weather or something else bannable as of a day or two ago. To that end, he tweeted about how the reinstatement of previously banned users will go:
Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints.
No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022
Who will make up that council is a mystery, but Musk probably won’t be looking internally because he’s taking a machete to the previous regime, already firing the CEO, CFO, and policy chief, among numerous other employees. The irony is that, now that we’re all free to say “Learn to code” on Twitter to people who richly deserve it, the people getting fired already know how.
To lighten the mood, Musk is also calling himself “Chief Twit” in his bio, which I interpret as a signal that he wants people to have fun on Twitter. He also made a couple of grin-inducing tweets:
Entering Twitter HQ – let that sink in! pic.twitter.com/D68z4K2wq7
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 26, 2022
https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1585966869122457600
As you can imagine, the people who benefitted from Twitter’s skewed censoring practices aren’t happy. Democracy is about to fall because people can publicly disagree with them. And there are the ones throwing their usual temper tantrum and threatening to leave Twitter. Here are a few of the most notable bozos; I’d include their tweets, but they’re mostly either deleted or from deleted accounts that have since been reactivated. Here a couple that are still up as of this writing (as are their accounts, of course):
Hi Twitterverse, Elon Musk fired folks at Twitter so I’m firing Elon, as I said I would. Hope to see you all on another platform. I’ll stay on this one today for your suggestions. Thanks for all you’ve contributed. I still wear Brooks shoes ( made in USA) thanks to you.
— Howard Dean (@GovHowardDean) October 28, 2022
I’m sorry but I cannot be a part of anything owned by #ELONMUSK and his cabal of deplorable‘s. I’ll stay on for a couple of days so that we can say goodbye but after that I’m gone.
— Marina Sirtis (@Marina_Sirtis) October 28, 2022
These are the same people who threaten to leave the country every time a Republican wins the presidency; unfortunately for the nation, they never follow through on it. Then, there are those who insist they’re forming a resistance and staying till Musk kicks them out:
I am not afraid of Elon Musk.
Who’s with me?— Jo (@JoJoFromJerz) October 28, 2022
Stay. Hold your ground like a Ukrainian.
— Tristan Snell (@TristanSnell) October 28, 2022
I am here until he kicks me off. #resist
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) October 28, 2022
Of course, these people know they’re in no danger of being removed, and no one is calling for them to get ousted, as they do to others on a seemingly hourly basis. (If they were in danger, they’d clamp their mouths shut so fast they’d need caps for their teeth.) But they need to look like victims because there are no actual victims.
Oh, and remember when Elon Musk said Twitter was “the de facto town square,” and the censors argued it was a private company that could do whatever its owners wanted? Look who’s changing their tune:
Letting a reckless ideologue take full control of what is essentially a public utility – less than two weeks before election day – is insane.
— Billy Baldwin (@BillyBaldwin) October 28, 2022
Shoe doesn’t fit so well when it’s on the other foot, huh, sparky?
In the meantime, we can take Elon Musk’s cue and have some fun. Say what you want, post some fun memes, and laugh at the pouting bullies like the heroes of an 80s comedy. As Musk said, the bird is freed.
