On October 27, Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter was finalized. When Musk announced his intent to purchase the company for $44 billion in April, he made the following statement, “Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated.” He also said, “My strong intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization.” Upon taking ownership last week, Musk tweeted, “The bird is freed” and began making changes in the social media giant, firing its top executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal and policy head Vijaya Gadde. Musk tweeted the following statement to the company’s advertisers: “The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence. There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far right wing and far left wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society. In the relentless pursuit of clicks, much of traditional media has fueled and catered to those polarized extremes, as they believe that is what brings in the money, but, in doing so, the opportunity for dialogue is lost. That is why I bought Twitter. I didn’t do it because it would be easy. I didn’t do it to make more money. I did it to try to help humanity, whom I love. And I do so with humility, recognizing that failure in pursuing this goal, despite our best efforts, is a very real possibility.”
(Friday Church News Notes, November 4, 2022, www.wayoflife.org fbns@wayoflife.org, 866-295-4143)
