Twitter under Elon Musk

Elon Musk completed his acquisition of Twitter in October 2022; Musk acted as CEO of Twitter until June 2023 when he was succeeded by Linda Yaccarino.^[1] Twitter was then rebranded to X in July 2023. Initially during Musk's tenure, Twitter introduced a series of reforms and management changes; the company reinstated a number of previously banned accounts, reduced the workforce by approximately 80%, closed one of Twitter's three data centers, and largely eliminated the content moderation team, replacing it with the crowd-sourced fact-checking system Community Notes.

In November 2022, Twitter then began offering paid verification checkmarks, followed by removing legacy verification. In December, the Twitter Files were released and a number of journalists suspended from the platform. The following year, a variety of further changes were made; API access restrictions, developer agreements updated, transgender hate conduct policies relaxed, new phrases and 'slurs' banned, and news headlines removed from posts. Temporary measures also occurred; media outlets were labeled as "state-affiliated" causing controversy, restrictions to viewing tweets and sending direct messages, as well as links to specific external websites blocked and delayed. One year after Musk's acquisition, active user engagement on the mobile app had declined 16% and the value of the company is estimated to be down between 55% and 65%, below the acquisition price of $44 billion.

After stepping down to CTO, Musk remained the subject of criticism over viral misinformation and disinformation, an increase in hate speech such as anti-LGBT rhetoric, as well as a number of antisemitism controversies. In response to certain claims, X Corp. has served lawsuits against nonprofit organizations Media Matters and the Center for Countering Digital Hate for their analysis. Musk has defended the approach to content moderation as "freedom of speech, not freedom of reach",^[2] previously describing the platform as having liberal bias.^[3] Musk has described X as a "digital town square", with the vision of becoming an "everything app".^[4] Commentators have described it as a "free speech free-for-all",^[5] "free-for-all hellscape",^[6] and as a right-wing social network.^[7]^[8] The platform has otherwise gained favorable attention from conservatives and Republicans.^[9]

^ Rosa Royle, Orianna (June 13, 2023). "Elon Musk's new CEO Linda Yaccarino issues first rallying cry to employees: 'Let's dig our heels in (4 inches or flat!) and build Twitter 2.0 together'". Fortune. Archived from the original on June 13, 2023. Retrieved June 14, 2023.
^ Cite error: The named reference Piemontese-2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^ Elliott, Vittoria. "Elon Musk Has Put Twitter's Free Speech in Danger". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on November 7, 2022. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
^ Ortutay, Barbara (May 25, 2023). "Elon Musk wants to build a digital town square. But his debut for DeSantis had a tech failure". AP News. Archived from the original on November 23, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
^ Burgess, Jean (April 27, 2022). "The 'digital town square'? What does it mean when billionaires own the online spaces where we gather?". The Conversation. Archived from the original on November 21, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
^ Morrow, Allison (December 6, 2022). "Welcome to the 'free-for-all hellscape' that is Twitter | CNN Business". CNN. Archived from the original on May 19, 2023. Retrieved December 4, 2023.
^ Warzel, Charlie (May 23, 2023). "Twitter Is a Far-Right Social Network". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on November 25, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
^ Mahdawi, Arwa (June 3, 2023). "Twitter's rightwing takeover is complete. Why are liberals still on it?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on November 25, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
^ "Why Does Elon Musk's Potential Twitter Takeover Scare the Media So Much?". April 18, 2022. Archived from the original on April 23, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2024.

[fortuennewceo-1] Rosa Royle, Orianna (June 13, 2023). "Elon Musk's new CEO Linda Yaccarino issues first rallying cry to employees: 'Let's dig our heels in (4 inches or flat!) and build Twitter 2.0 together'". Fortune. Archived from the original on June 13, 2023. Retrieved June 14, 2023.

[Piemontese-2023-2] Cite error: The named reference Piemontese-2023 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

[3] Elliott, Vittoria. "Elon Musk Has Put Twitter's Free Speech in Danger". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Archived from the original on November 7, 2022. Retrieved November 25, 2023.

[Ortutay-2023-4] Ortutay, Barbara (May 25, 2023). "Elon Musk wants to build a digital town square. But his debut for DeSantis had a tech failure". AP News. Archived from the original on November 23, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.

[Burgess-2022-5] Burgess, Jean (April 27, 2022). "The 'digital town square'? What does it mean when billionaires own the online spaces where we gather?". The Conversation. Archived from the original on November 21, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.

[6] Morrow, Allison (December 6, 2022). "Welcome to the 'free-for-all hellscape' that is Twitter | CNN Business". CNN. Archived from the original on May 19, 2023. Retrieved December 4, 2023.

[7] Warzel, Charlie (May 23, 2023). "Twitter Is a Far-Right Social Network". The Atlantic. Archived from the original on November 25, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.

[8] Mahdawi, Arwa (June 3, 2023). "Twitter's rightwing takeover is complete. Why are liberals still on it?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on November 25, 2023. Retrieved November 25, 2023.

[9] "Why Does Elon Musk's Potential Twitter Takeover Scare the Media So Much?". April 18, 2022. Archived from the original on April 23, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2024.

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