How will Elon Musk change Twitter?

When he took over Twitter, Elon Musk could change the content policy, unban top accounts, but also make employees unhappy.

Nearly three months after giving up the Twitter deal , Elon Musk suddenly announced that he would continue to buy the social network. According to experts, the new decision, if finalized, will not only create turmoil within Twitter, but also affect hundreds of millions of platform users around the world.

In private and public announcements over the past six months, Musk laid out a series of changes to the platform, from enabling end-to-end encryption for direct messaging, increasing freedom of expression to proposing create "super app" X. Even in leaked messages between Musk and his brother Kimbal, he even thought of the possibility of asking users to pay for each tweet with a small amount of Dogecoin cryptocurrency.

The image of Musk displayed on the smartphone, next to it is the Apple logo. Photo: Reuters

Big change in content moderation

For years under former CEO Jack Dorsey, Twitter emphasized its job as "promoting healthy conversation." The social network bans many accounts that advertise abuse and spam, label false and misleading information, and ban transgender sexism.

However, when he comes to power, Musk can make content "breathable". "If in doubt, let the statements live," he wrote on Twitter in April. "If it's a gray area, the tweet will still exist but won't go viral."

He also wants to make Twitter's algorithm open-source, while the platform needs to be more transparent each time a tweet is emphasized or dropped in rank.

In the end, freedom of speech is the factor he focuses on the most. "I'm against censorship going beyond the law. If people want less freedom of speech, they'll ask the government to pass legislation," Musk said in April.

Recover Donald Trump's Account

Musk once said Twitter should be "reluctant to delete everything" and "be cautious of permanent bans". According to CNN , if Twitter goes to Musk, there will be a long list of controversial and banned accounts that have been restored, including the account of former US President Donald Trump.

"I think it's not right to ban Donald Trump, it's a mistake," the US billionaire said in May. "I will reverse the ban. We should not have permanent bans."

Before being blocked early last year, Mr. Trump's Twitter account had more than 88 million followers. However, he recently said he has no intention of rejoining Twitter, instead continuing to use his Truth Social platform. Mr. Trump's Truth Social account currently has four million followers.

'Super App' X

"Buying Twitter is the way to accelerate the creation of X, the app that contains everything," Musk said on October 5, after he announced he would buy Twitter as promised earlier. He did not detail how application X would work. However, the US billionaire claims that owning Twitter helps "accelerate the development of X from 3 to 5 years". Before that, he bought the domain name X.com in 2017 and hasn't used it so far.

Earlier this year, in a talk with Twitter staff, he compared X's vision to WeChat, a popular Chinese app that integrates many features from messaging, video calling to mobile payments. "Basically, I find WeChat really useful, especially in everyday life. I think, if we get there or even get close to it with Twitter, it will be a huge success." he said.

According to the Telegraph , an "app for everything" of Musk, if completed, could bring great potential like how Tesla made its mark in the field of electric cars, SpaceX conquering space and satellite Internet.

With a big vision, X is predicted to be able to compete with Amazon in the retail field; is a Google competitor in search, email and mapping services; Meta competition in social networking and messaging; will even go head-to-head with Microsoft on software and games. "X could be an all-in-one application if developed by Musk, from financial services, technology cars, online music and movies to food delivery and healthcare," Telegraph commented. "If X comes to fruition, it could disrupt the Internet economy."

Musk - erratic and controversial boss

According to CNN , Twitter may face the platform's biggest danger next time: controlling its own new boss.

Musk has a erratic and controversial past in the tech industry. On his Twitter account with more than 100 million followers, he once made misleading statements about the Covid-19 pandemic, said the person who rescued children in a cave in Thailand was a "sexual predator" and posted countless prank, manipulating cryptocurrencies.

To this day, Twitter still controls Musk's account to a certain extent. Still, some experts say these barriers may disappear once he takes the helm.

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