Elon Musk’s failed takeover of Twitter generated countless headlines the past few months and brought about a renewed debate over the role of free speech in social media. The one thing it didn’t generate however was the only thing that matters: results.
Musk’s announcement that he is backing out of his high-stakes gamble came as no surprise to anyone who has been watching Big Tech in recent years. His proposed acquisition of Twitter was destined to fail from the start because the problems plaguing Twitter run far deeper than anything that can be fixed by a new CEO. From political discrimination to bots to an inability to connect with the “TikTok Generation,” and a complete lack of business focus or vision, Twitter is a fundamentally broken product that places “wokeness” over freedom…and it’s Twitter’s users who suffer.
Musk’s attempt to restore some degree of freedom of speech to Twitter was the platform’s last hope to remain a relevant social media site. I can’t stress this point enough: Musk was Twitter’s final chance at success. He even made this explicit in his pitch to buy the company, arguing that Twitter needed a serious pivot away from censorship and suspensions, and towards free speech and diversity of thought to build a better user experience.
In response, Musk was met with shock, dismay, personal attacks, and unhinged resistance from Twitter staff. If there were any voices of reason left within the company, they were quickly drowned out. Many even threatened to quit over fear of losing their ability to “moderate content,” which is code for censoring Tweets and viewpoints they don’t like.