Twitter has been in turmoil since Elon Musk took over in November 2022. For the entrepreneur who was successful with Tesla, the $44 billion deal has also been a bad investment so far.
He has now ruled the platform for half a year – and the American company is in permanent crisis mode. Mass layoffs, loss of advertisers, disputes with media companies: the problems never end. On the contrary.
An overview in six points.
After a dispute with well-known media houses such as the BBC and American broadcasting chains, Twitter has refrained from providing information about the funding of media organizations. This means that the accounts of the Chinese news agency Xinhua or the Kremlin propaganda channel Russia Today, which has been blocked in Europe, no longer refer to them as being financed by the state.
A major upheaval with still uncertain consequences for the platform’s credibility had only just begun: the blue and white symbols that once indicated an account correctly verified by Twitter were removed.
The ticks that look exactly like this now carry profiles whose owners pay a subscription fee of 10 francs per month. There is no real verification – except that a phone number must be provided and confirmed.
Many celebrities refuse to pay the monthly amount required for Twitter Blue. That’s why they lost their old sign on Friday night. Unlike Facebook and Instagram, their Twitter profiles are no longer verified, which can confuse users and pave the way for fake accounts.
For whatever reason, Musk pays the subscription fees for basketball star LeBron James, writer Stephen King and actor William Shatner out of pocket.
The very person who complained about the alleged arbitrariness of ticks in the old procedure, claiming that this would divide users into “lords and pawns”, now decides completely arbitrarily and on his own authority who keeps the symbol. And this in contrast to an alleged change to the platform rules that applies to everyone.
Elsewhere, Musk’s promises are met only partially or not at all. He always swore on an “absolute freedom of speech” that should exist on his Twitter. However, journalists’ accounts have been blocked several times for alleged violations of Twitter rules. And only because they posted links to their articles.
Under the banner of free speech, there is now more space on Twitter for right-wing views and vaccine skeptics — both beliefs Musk himself espouses.
Numerous accounts that were blocked for hate speech or spreading potentially dangerous falsehoods about the coronavirus or vaccines have been unblocked.
The Twitter boss himself acts as an influential reinforcer to his approximately 136 million followers, who otherwise might not have seen many of these tweets and claims. He himself denigrated the journalistic media and insulted US President Joe Biden’s Democrats as a “party of division and hatred”.
Musk also reactivated ex-President Donald Trump’s account, which was blocked after encouraging his riotous supporters during the January 2021 storming of the Capitol, after a poll of Twitter users came close. So far, Trump prefers to stick to his own Twitter copy, Truth Social.
Some researchers have already concluded that hate speech on Twitter has increased. Musk vehemently denied this in a BBC interview. However, Twitter no longer publishes the previous transparency reports under him.
The BBC analyzed more than 1,100 previously suspended Twitter accounts that were reactivated under Musk. Conclusion: A third appeared to violate their own guidelines.
Such content was “a plague” on Twitter for years before Musk took over the platform. But research from the BBC showed that the situation could worsen further: Twitter insiders expressed concern that the company could no longer protect its users against “trolls”, state-coordinated disinformation and child sexual exploitation. One reason: the mass layoffs implemented by Musk.
At the same time, Twitter must operate within legal guidelines — and regulators have questions. In the United States, for example, the agency is bound by promises from the FTC consumer protection authority after previous violations. According to media reports, Twitter’s compliance is being investigated. Musk tried to meet with bureau chief Lina Khan but was rejected, the New York Times recently reported.
At the most recent share issue to employees, the value of the company was only half as high, Musk confirmed in a BBC interview. At the same time, he claimed in an email to employees that Twitter could end up being worth just $250 million.
Wonder what he’s actually up to.
His suggestions that Twitter could become the basis for a super app along the lines of WeChat in China have so far gone no further than mere speculation. Musk currently hopes for more subscription revenue after the drop in revenue due to the departure of advertising customers.
Twitter has not had to mention company numbers since the stock market exit. And the company refuses to provide information to critical media people.
With material from the SDA, DPA news agencies
(dsc)
Source: Watson
I’m Ella Sammie, author specializing in the Technology sector. I have been writing for 24 Instatnt News since 2020, and am passionate about staying up to date with the latest developments in this ever-changing industry.
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