Elon Musk's Purchase of Twitter is Dangerous - Especially for Fake News On Social Media Platforms
The world's richest man and notorious blowhard, Elon Musk, bought Twitter yesterday. For those who don't know, Twitter is a messaging app that allows people to communicate in short messages. It should be abundantly clear by now, but I am not a fan of this man - so yes, this blog post is biased regarding his purchase of the company.
Why is Elon’s purchase on Twitter dangerous?
Because Musk has a history of making reckless decisions without considering the consequences. For example, in September 2018, he tweeted that he wanted to take Tesla private (i.e., buying up all the company shares and delisting it from the stock market). This caused a 6% drop in Tesla's stock price, which translated to billions of dollars lost. It also led to an ongoing investigation by the SEC, which is looking into unlawful practices.
Elon’s purchase of Twitter raises many questions.
For one, he now only has to answer to himself and a handful of his Twitter followers. He can post whatever he wants, however, he wants, without worrying about shareholders or the public. Does his purchase of Twitter give him too much power? Does this make Musk even more dangerous? My first gut reaction is yes.
I am not sure what will happen next, but I know Twitter is far from perfect.
The company has an infamous mis- and disinformation problem, and those who are worried about it are unlikely to be reassured by the leadership of a man who spreads plenty of false and misleading information himself, including and especially about his own companies.
The company only holds a small percentage of the social media space, with just over 436 million monthly active users (ranking the social media platform #12 out of all the platforms), and it is struggling to compete with the likes of Facebook/Instagram/What's App and now TikTok. As a result, Twitter has been trying to figure out its future and has failed to find a way to make money off of its platform.
Despite these struggles, I am concerned that Musk's purchase will worsen Twitter's situation and make the app even more dangerous for users. He has a history of disregarding warnings about his actions. He seems to be more interested in the fame and power of owning Twitter than in creating a better social media platform (just my own opinion… and we will see what happens next).
Of course, fake news isn’t just about Twitter.
Musk also owns and runs SpaceX, Tesla, The Boring Company, and The Hyperloop - all of which have their own significant problems. The man has shown a talent for making his companies look good and hiding the truth, so I am very worried about what will happen next.
Fake News or Free Speech on Social Media?
Twitter has long been a platform where people can say what they want (within reason) without consequence. It's that "within reason" part that I am worried about.
There is a difference between "free speech" and "hate speech." Hate speech should not be allowed to spread, but it is all too common on social media platforms. People are sharing misinformation and false news, and more often than not, those stories originate from far-right radical groups.
Just a few headlines on how harmful the spread of misinformation is (and this is just in the past few days... I won't even start with the disaster misinformation from the 2016 election led us to Trump):
People are bombarded with fake news before the Brazilian election via PBS (People on social media say, wrongly, that the leftist candidate in Brazil’s presidential election plans to close down churches if elected).
How Disinformation Splintered and Became More Intractable via NY Times (Ahead of the midterm elections, the proliferation of alternative social media sites has helped cement false and misleading info).
The fact that some of the worst people in politics are celebrating this should be a red flag to anyone. Right-winger politicians believe they’re disproportionately “censored” on Twitter. We learned in the 2016 election that fearful or hateful content spreads easier than positive content - so their cries about being censored are just a way to get more attention vs. actual worries.
How DO we fight misinformation on social media?
I don't have the answers, but I know we need to be vigilant and stand up against those seeking to spread it. Honestly, that's one of the things I love about TikTok. People are using that platform to tell their stories and spread their message about how they are actively fighting against the threats to democracy that we see on social media. (okay, yes... a lot of misinformation happens on that platform also).
I read somewhere that many women are getting out of abusive relationships because they have learned about resources and tools available to them on social media. And that's awesome!
But I think we need to be more proactive in dealing with misinformation on social media. Without considering the consequences, we cannot let people like Musk get a free pass to do what they want.
WE need to demand more from the social media platforms and our leaders (who can actually do something).
And ultimately, we need to hold social media platforms accountable for what information they allow onto their platforms - and how they police it. We must speak out against those platforms when they are complicit in spreading misinformation, and we need to hold them accountable for their role in manipulating public opinion.
We also need to hold our political leaders accountable and demand they enact stronger policies to protect our democracy and society. This could include stronger regulations on social media platforms or even fines and penalties for those who spread misinformation. It also means being more proactive in our efforts to combat misinformation.
The dangers of misinformation are clear, and the consequences are severe (I mean, we know what happened with Trump in office).
And with Twitter now in the hands of someone like Elon Musk, it seems that those dangers will only get worse, not better.
In my opinion, if Twitter is run by a man who contributes to spreading misinformation, it may become even more toxic and dangerous than it already is. Musk may not always be willing to stand up for free speech and instead choose to spread misinformation.
I don't know what the future will hold for Twitter and social media in general because, let's be honest - Facebook, *cough* Meta, and TikTok aren't any better. The issues with social media and mental health are still HUGE problems.
Ultimately, I believe Musk's purchase of Twitter is dangerous for all of us. Already, people are bombarded with misinformation every day, and if that's going to get worse, I'm not sure what will happen next. The future of Twitter, social media in general, and our democracy is at stake.
We need to be vigilant and fight against the spread of misinformation, and we cannot rely on someone like Musk to do that.
