X (formerly Twitter) and Elon Musk — What is in Store for the US?

Elon Musk got Twitter, fired the CEO and some other honchos, left a lot of employees, became a CEO, then found a new CEO, and got into many fights and compromises on red-hot issues like ethics. Freedom of speech, money, and business, and many more.

Phew! That is so many things in such a short time.

The whole saga played out in the open — largely because Musk wanted it that way and because Twitter is an everyday company for many people. The audacity, the speculated poison pill, the funding (enough of the wealth that can’t be taxed because it is not there, but can be used because it is there — well summarized by Trevor Noah in The Daily Show), the to and fro, the give and take — they are all an integral part of a large acquisition. Only they do not play in front of us — rather in the backroom alleys.

And yes, firing the top management as well is the norm, especially when the new management is coming up with a different philosophy. Don’t worry — Parag Agarwal reportedly got a USD 45 million parachute, and can well start something with USD 100 million Series A, apart from another corner office. So are the other members. But then, we also heard about disputes about settlements.

The bigger question is — what happens to Twitter next?

While Twitter is dwarfed by the likes of Facebook WhatsApp or Instagram in terms of the number of users, it gets an oversized impact for three reasons:

1. It is the most open platform to connect with the famous and influential (except when they block you).

2. It comes with the most lucid, top-of-the-mind reactions given the way it is built (even from people who are otherwise guarded — see the number of denials/ hacking claims/ deletes/ apologies).

3. It is the most powerful instant news source (and credible with multiple auto validations/ cancellations).

These remain the questions even after almost six months from the transfer of ownership. And possibly will remain in question even in the foreseeable future.

With Elon Musk at the helm, none of these should be affected. Areas like profitability, job cuts, monetization, etc. are business issues that are best managed by the new management.

However, Musk has made himself into a messiah, someone who is ready to pay dollars to free Twitter.

Now Elon Musk himself has one of the largest numbers of followers on Twitter and has effectively used it many times — to manage a business, to affect stock prices, to settle scores. So much so, that he is now restricted by the SEC on what he can tweet about his companies.

Over the years, Twitter courted many controversies — primarily because Donald Trump adopted it, very effectively, to bypass the political ecosystem to reach his base directly. Over time, however, it went out of control and his fake and divisive Tweets made Twitter ban him permanently.

However Trump is not the only one, there are many such examples across various countries including India. And I suppose most have not missed them on the platform — except their ardent supporters, some losers, and some confused “liberals”.

What we need to know is what Twitter does now. Will it remove all moderation? It has brought back Donald Trump and our very own Kangana Ranaut, though both remain a shadow of their previous selves. But with elections coming up in both India and the US (and specifically, Truth Social has not been able to make much impact), it may change soon. And we will see how much the “new Tweeter” stands or falls for the “Freedom of Speech”. Surely there will be many who will stretch the platform.

For now, Musk seems most focused on increasing the revenue, but as usual with mixed signals. While the Twitter CEO talking about a successful meeting with the advocacy group Ant-Defamation Group, Musk is accusing them of chasing away his advertisers.

Twitter is unique, and with the so-called competition either failing to scale or becoming dens of biases, we need it as much as Twitter needs us. Surely it is an evolving model, and we will see many more situations in the coming days.

And then the much larger questions beyond the platform. Like, what will then happen vis a vis the law of the lands where Twitter operates? And the social fabric? And eventual legal hurdles and disputes that will inevitably arise?