Musk had said in May that he would allow Trump to return to Twitter if he bought it, as he considered loosening restrictions on the social network in general, prompting some on the US right to welcome his intention
It would save freedom of expression according to the right, give rise to hate speech according to the left, but ultimately do neither: its decision Elon Musk to withdraw its takeover bid for Twitter is dividing the American political world.
“The Twitter deal is dead, long live “Truth”“, wrote the former president Donald Trump on the self-founded social networking site through which he expresses himself after being banned from Twitter.
Musk had said in May that he would allow Trump to return to the Twittersince he was buying it as he was generally thinking of loosening restrictions on the social media medium, which prompted some on the right in the US to take a positive view of his intention.
On the contrary, the prospect of this eccentric businessman taking control of Twitter had caused concern on the left, which is now expressing its satisfaction with his decision to end the deal to buy the medium for 44 billion dollars.
It is a “welcome development for women, people of color and members of the LGBTI+ community,” countered the feminist organization UltraViolet, which feared that a Twitter under Musk’s control would “unleash a wave of hate.”
The Nobel Prize-winning economist, Paul Krugmanmocked Musk’s “hard-to-control spontaneity,” comparing him to resigned British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
For weeks, various statements by Musk have hinted at the possibility of not finalizing the agreement he signed on April 25 to acquire Twitter. The announcement of his withdrawal on Friday opened the way for a lengthy legal battle.
“Whims”
All this history shows that “our ecosystem of information, security and democracy should not be vulnerable to the whims of unaccountable billionaires,” said Nicole Gill, executive director of Accountable Tech.
This organization, which fights to hold large Internet companies accountable, had launched an initiative with others in early June to block the takeover of Twitter. Together they “demonstrated that Elon Musk, by acquiring Twitter, simply wanted to defend his right-wing ideology,” UltraViolet added.
From the side of Donald Trump Jrson of the former president, estimated that “I’m almost certain that the censorship they (including Twitter and Facebook), whatever it is, will increase tenfold,” as he wrote in Truth.
“There is no possibility of freedom of thought or expression there anymore.”, he added. “The celebration is over. Persecutions are coming“, the conservative political analyst estimated for his part Dave Rubincommenting that Musk’s potential acquisition of Twitter was “the last chance to save something from the nightmare” of GAFA, the big four internet companies: Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon.
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