The problem with Twitter (and Facebook) is that they're not important until they are. What I mean is - I rarely look at Twitter, but then there will be an earthquake and I'll go straight there because it'll be the fastest, easiest way to find out information about the actual quake as well as to both check-in on others and put out reassurances about myself. Same with Facebook.
In other words, Twitter, for all its faults and bad behavior by its users, has become a really valuable tool for disseminating information and facilitating communication in times of crisis, whether that's a natural disaster or one of the seemingly infinite number of man-made ones.
So, more than free speech concerns (although I do share them), I am afraid that Musk could, through deliberate action or, more likely, as an unforeseen consequence, break that functionality. I'm not sure what the solution is, but I think it does speak to a broader point I've seen floating about that Twitter ought not, perhaps, belong to just one person.
The problem with Twitter (and Facebook) is that they're not important until they are. What I mean is - I rarely look at Twitter, but then there will be an earthquake and I'll go straight there because it'll be the fastest, easiest way to find out information about the actual quake as well as to both check-in on others and put out reassurances about myself. Same with Facebook.
In other words, Twitter, for all its faults and bad behavior by its users, has become a really valuable tool for disseminating information and facilitating communication in times of crisis, whether that's a natural disaster or one of the seemingly infinite number of man-made ones.
So, more than free speech concerns (although I do share them), I am afraid that Musk could, through deliberate action or, more likely, as an unforeseen consequence, break that functionality. I'm not sure what the solution is, but I think it does speak to a broader point I've seen floating about that Twitter ought not, perhaps, belong to just one person.