According to Elon Musk, Twitter’s new owner, commercial and government users may have to pay a subscription fee to access the microblogging platform.
This began making the news round after the $44 billion acquisition by the Tesla owner.
The sale represented a significant change for the board, which had previously tried to prevent Musk from turning the social media network private.
“Freedom of speech is the foundation of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the virtual town square where issues crucial to humanity’s future are debated,” Musk stated in a joint statement unveiling the acquisition.
However, acknowledging the public’s fears that his takeover would lead to the commercialization of the social media platform, the billionaire businessman said in the early hours of Wednesday that government and commercial users would pay for the platform.
Also read, 4 Potential Changes expected on Elon Musk’s Twitter
However, he stated that the microblogging site will indeed “always” be free for ordinary users.
In a series of tweets, the billionaire businessman justified his decision to commercialize the platform for government and commercial users by claiming that free services resulted in the destruction of great businesses.
“Twitter will be free for ordinary users, but there may be a small cost for commercial/government users,” he wrote.
In response to a tweet, the businessman added, “Some profit is better than none!”
Elon Musk previously stated, “Inevitably, the Freemasons’ eventual demise was giving out free stone cutting services.”
On paper, the enthusiasm for Twitter’s sales far surpasses the site’s commercial importance. Twitter does not even make the top 10 most popular social networks in the world, trailing only by newbies like TikTok.
Twitter, the corporation, has only confirmed high profit twice in its whole history – in 2018 and 2019 – but in other years relied heavily on metrics such as engagement or user growth to reassure investors that it is worthwhile to keep.
The site has also been chastised for how it handles misinformation, especially when it is propagated by prominent figures such as former US President Donald Trump.
Twitter, on the other hand, has a very particular and critical cache that enables it to punch above its weight. It is the preferred system for journalists and government officials, primarily diplomats, two key constituencies whose engagement in the site lets it reach beyond anyone who is a registered user.
Is Musk’s acquisition the end of Twitter as we know it? It’s conceivable. The return of some of the far-right voices that were removed from the site may make it unbearable or inaccessible for the vast majority of consumers.
The rise of the alt-right and some patterns in web misogyny in the United States have been replicated in countries such as Brazil, Mexico, Kenya, and India.
A resurgence in the United States will have ramifications around the world, especially if Twitter pursues its global expansion plans.
Certainly, reversing some of the meager but critical attempts to make Twitter a more multilateral company, in response to international scenarios such as Nigeria’s End SARS movement, would be a significant step back.
Musk’s purchase of Twitter may very well kill it, but we will still have a world of billions of people who have expressed a desire to participate in an internet that allows them to interact in factual social and political discussion with people beyond their social circles.
Beyond Twitter, what guidelines and structures will be needed to avoid the next iteration of social media from replicating the harms of the systems we have now? This is a far more constructive debate than wringing one’s hands over a private company’s possible demise.
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