Elon Musk is now a big shareholder of Twitter.
Musk just purchased enough Twitter stock to give himself a 9.2% ownership stake (for nearly $3 billion). This makes him the largest shareholder of the social media giant. For those of us who value free speech, this is fantastic news.
Twitter undoubtedly has a liberal bias. It suspended the Babylon Bee for jokingly naming U.S. Assistant Secretary of Health Rachel Levine as its “Man of the Year.” It censored Texas attorney general Ken Paxton for admitting that Levine and Penn swimmer Lia Thomas are men. Put simply, Twitter has massive influence over the speech that we see. Having a conservative opinion on the transgender issue gets someone punished and his or her speech labeled hateful. Of course, this is also the platform that banned the sitting president of the United States, Donald Trump.
Free speech issues matter to Musk. He has been critical of Twitter for what he sees as a lack of commitment to free speech. On March 25, Musk held a Twitter poll that asked, “Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?” More than 2 million people voted in his poll; 70.4% of them said “no.”
A day later, Musk reviewed the poll’s results. He responded, “Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy. What should be done?”
It looks like Musk has a plan: become a substantial shareholder of Twitter and try to use that influence to ensure that Twitter respects free speech. Although Twitter will likely stay liberal, Musk understands that shareholders influence companies. Musk is so powerful that he can influence the stock market with a single tweet. Twitter’s stock rose significantly when people found out that Musk bought a few billion dollars worth of stock in it!
Musk’s market-based approach to this problem could force Twitter to choose what it values more: billions of dollars or being woke. If Twitter is like any sane corporation, it will choose money.
And if it does, that will lead to freer and more honest discourse on the platform.
Tom Joyce ( @TomJoyceSports ) is a political reporter for the New Boston Post in Massachusetts.
