Twitter takeover by Elon Musk has upset the Left-liberal cabal which which wants to to control the information ecosystem and manipulate the narrative
The cancel culturists now truly fear they may get cancelled on Twitter soon. The news of the world’s richest man Elon Musk’s $44-billion takeover of the social media platform has outraged the Left-Illiberals so much that they may soon die of exhaustion. Musk himself is the reason for this suicidal tendency displayed by the Wokes. He had recently tweeted his crossover from being on the Left-side of the ideological divide to the right.
In a funny meme posted on his Twitter handle on April 28, Musk traces his ideological journey from 2008 to 2021. In another tweet the next day, the electric mobility company Tesla’s chief executive said: “The far left hates everyone, themselves included!”
Musk, obviously, is a tease. The pun is intended. Musk, who already is the largest share-holder, ended Twitter’s run as a public company since 2013. The world’s richest man said in a securities filing on April 14 that he did not have confidence in Twitter’s management.
On April 25, Twitter made the easiest announcement. Its board had decided to grab the whopping $44 billion offer from Musk to buy out Twitter. The definitive agreement for acquisition of the microblogging site by Elon Musk’s wholly owned entity was signed that day.
There was no Leftist principle to uphold for the board, it was purely profits over the shares that the share-holders held. Musk had offered to buy each and every share that he does not hold in Twitter already for $54.20 per share. The transaction was to be done in cash.
Soros Turns Sour
A group of Left-leaning ‘advocacy’ groups has been mounting pressure on corporate brands to reconsider their decision to advertise on the platform if Twitter pushes for changes once Musk takes control of the platform. In the meanwhile, Musk called for an investigation into ‘advocacy’ groups.
According to reports, a group of 25 Left-wing advocacy groups have written a letter to the biggest brands, including Coca-Cola, Disney and Kraft, asking them to make sure advertising deals made with Twitter are contingent that it will keep in place policies to police “hateful conduct, transparency and enforce civic integrity” or risk losing advertising dollars.
A report in the New York Times stated that Media Matters for America, the Black Lives Matter Global Network Foundation, Accountable Tech, a technology advocacy group, the feminist group UltraViolet, the Center for Countering Digital Hate, the National Hispanic Media Coalition and the Free Press digital rights group.are some of the groups. “As top advertisers on Twitter, your brand risks association with a platform amplifying hate, extremism, health misinformation, and conspiracy theorists,” the letter read, adding, “Under Musk’s management, Twitter risks becoming a cesspool of misinformation, with your brand attached, polluting our information ecosystem in a time where trust in institutions and news media is already at an all-time low.”
Out of these groups, Free Press and Meida Matters for America have received funds from Hungarian-American George Soros’s Open Society Foundation. The report said big brands such as Apple, Best Buy and HBO were targeted in the letter. “Your ad dollars can either fund Musk’s vanity project or hold him to account,” the letter read.
Responding to a CNN report, Musk tweeted, “Who funds these organisations that want to control your access to the information? Let’s investigate….” He also added later, ‘sunlight is the best disinfectant’, hinting that transparency and openness, not censoring, are always better. Responding to a social media user’s claim that George Soros is behind the letter to the big brands, Twitter chief Elon Musk took potshots at George Soros, asking him to “slide into his DMs”.
Musk said, “I will call him and ask.” Later, he responded to an Open Society Foundations post that said, “George, please slide into my DMs!”.He added, “Here’s hoping,” expecting Soros to respond to him.
On completion of the transaction, Twitter would be privately held by the world’s richest person. It was all about the money for the Twitter shareholders.
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” Musk said in a statement.
“I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans,” he also listed his priorities for a futuristic Twitter.
“Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.” Twitter’s shares were up about 6 per cent following the news.
Musk, who also founded Space-X, has been criticising for a few months now Twitter’s policy on social media behaviour for its users. He has supported free speech and freedom of expression, and has opposed a ban on users.
“I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means,” he said on the day he signed the deal to buy out the microblogging site.
Twitter has in the past banned former US president Donald Trump apart from Indian movie star Kangana Ranaut. Several others’ free speech rights have been curtailed by Twitter time and again, for innocuous reasons, including over complaints from those who were not comfortable with truths.
In a cryptic tweet on April 27, Musk said, “Truth Social (terrible name) exists because Twitter censored free speech.” Truth Social is Donald Trump’s counter to Twitter as a microblogging competitor. “Should be called Trumpet instead!” Musk teased again. Is that a signal that Trump will be allowed back on Twitter when Musk becomes the boss?
Since the announcement of Musk’s takeover of Twitter, there has been speculation over the nature of the platform itself. Reports have already emerged that Musk, upon the transfer of ownership of the microblogging site, will be the interim chief executive.
This actually means the future of Twitter’s current India-born chief executive Parag Agrawal was now in doubt. If Agrawal is terminated as the company’s CEO by Musk within a year of takeover, he is to receive a huge package worth $42 million as severance pay out. But how this will pan out is to be seen.
However, several other employees of Twitter may have sealed their fate already. Musk’s public attack on Twitter’s top law officer on April 27 created quite a stir among the employees of the company. India-born Vijaya Gadde had expressed uncertainty about the future of the platform. Gadde was one of key executives involved in the removal of Donald Trump from Twitter.
“Suspending the Twitter account of a major news organization for publishing a truthful story was obviously incredibly inappropriate,” Musk said, while responding to a Twitter user, about Gadde’s past decisions over Trump. It is now speculated that the future of Gadde as the gatekeeper of the ideological stand of Twitter is numbered.
Even as Musk continues to spell out, using his Twitter handle, on what he foresees as the microblogging site’s future, there have been concerted efforts by several Left-Illiberal groups to see the commercial downfall of the company.
Musk tweeted a story from CNN in which certain civil society groups with strong Left-Illiberal ideological backing had called for boycott of Twitter by United States’ biggest brands such as the soft drink major Coca-Cola, entertainment majors Disney and Kraft, if the Tesla CEO, who opposes curbing of free speech, takes over the microblogging site.
Over two dozen of these lobbying groups had written to the major brands in early May that as advertisers on Twitter, these companies should secure commitments from the microblogging site that it will retain its most critical policies, including on civic integrity and hateful conduct, and that these companies should threaten to withdraw advertising if Twitter does not comply.
“As top advertisers on Twitter, your brand risks association with a platform amplifying hate, extremism, health misinformation, and conspiracy theorists,” the letter said. “Your ad dollars can either fund Musk’s vanity project or hold him to account,” the civil society groups said.
In an investor filing in early May, Twitter told advertisers, “We have no planned changes to our commitment to brand safety” but that the company “cannot speculate on changes Elon Musk may make post-closing.”
The letter offers the latest example of how Left-Illiberal groups are indulging in their cancel culture against Musk’s takeover of Twitter, who is not a huge fan of extreme right-wing politics either.
Musk responded to such a campaign, asking “who funds these organizations that want to control your access to information? Let’s investigate…”
The Left-Illiberals seem to have met their match in super confident Musk, even as Twitter’s board has shown clearly that money is much more powerful than their political leanings.
In India, though, the changes that happens at the highest levels in Twitter Inc. may have its own effects on how the microblogging site conducts itself, having been at loggerheads with the Government of India on more than one occasion in the recent years, and having been forced by courts to following the law of the land while operating in India.
For Twitter’s founder Jack Dorsey, who stepped aside as CEO of the microblogging site in 2021, he may not be coveted anymore by the Wokes and Left-Illiberals in India to repeat his infamous, ill-informed and ill-advised action of holding an anti-Hindu placard at a public event during his visit to New Delhi in 2018.
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