The billionaire is expected to complete his $44 billion takeover of the company by the end of the week
Twitter will not be the “free-for-all hellscape” some are fearing it will become when Elon Musk completes his takeover, the billionaire tweeted Thursday.
While Musk has previously raised concerns with his focus on free speech and by saying he would allow former President Donald Trump and other banned members to return to the platform, he sought to reassure a key demographic Thursday, under the headline “Dear Twitter Advertisers.”
Musk struck a conciliatory tone on Twitter as he laid out his case for acquiring the social media company, saying he seeks to encourage dialogue between users with different beliefs.
“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,” Musk tweeted.
The Tesla mogul’s note follows a Wall Street Journal report on Thursday which said that advertisers were concerned about Musk’s plans to lessen content moderation on the platform once he buys the company. Musk is expected to complete his $44 billion takeover of the company by Friday. (He tweeted a video of himself carrying a sink into Twitter headquarters this week to underline the point).
This comes after months of back and forth between the billionaire and the social media company and a court case in which Twitter sued Musk in order to ensure he completed the deal.
While Musk has previously spoken of Twitter as a “digital town square,” he now added that there must be a degree of content moderation in his open letter.
“That said, Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences! In addition to adhering to the laws of the land, our platform must be warm and welcoming to all, where you can choose your desired experience according to your preference, just as you can choose, for example, to see movies or play video games ranging from all ages to mature,” the tweet reads.
Though Musk has previously said he hates advertising, he also changed his tune on that Thursday, saying that he wants “highly relevant” ads for users on the platform.
“I also very much believe that advertising, when done right, can delight, entertain and inform you; it can show you a service or product or medical treatment that you never knew existed, but is right for you,” he said.
