No easy path for Musk towards a perfect public square

After spending months trying to back out of his bid to buy Twitter, once the $68 billion deal was done, entrepreneur Elon Musk wasted no time in putting his stamp on the social media company.

He sacked several of its top executives, dumped its board of directors (replacing it with himself as sole director) and is reportedly relying on a small group of confidants to re-imagine the company.

An active user on Twitter, Musk has been a vocal critic of the platform in recent years, particularly regarding its growing efforts to restrict inflammatory and provocative language, which the company enforces through moderation and the banning of some individual accounts that violate its rules.

Musk is a self-described “free speech absolutist” and has advocated for Twitter to be the “de facto town square” of the world, a place where rules should be kept to a minimum.

Twitter has been perhaps the most influential form of social media in offering a space for public debate partly due to the skew in its user base towards political and media figures. #BlackLivesMatter and #MeToo are just two hashtags that thrived on Twitter and successfully transitioned into political movements.

On the flipside, though, it has become fertile territory for hate speech, trolls, conspiracy theorists and those keen to propagate lies. The banning of former US president Donald Trump after the January 6 riots on the US Congress was the most high-profile attempt by Twitter to curb such speech but it requires constant attention.

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While Musk may lean towards the “let it rip” approach to public discourse, he is learning quickly that such an approach could have a financial impact on his new business.

Since Musk’s arrival at Twitter, and the upheaval that has ensued, advertising companies are reassessing their use of the platform, concerned at the possible reputational damage from being associated with a company that is looking to let its guard down on moderating extreme forms of speech.

This has forced Musk to soften his stance on free speech, declaring he will not return the platform to a “hellscape” and that he will form a “content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints” and “no major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes”.