The Wall Street Journal on Friday delved into the circumstances surrounding the $ 44 billion purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk, as well as those who heard it and may have persuaded it to make the move.
Among them are Republican billionaire donor Peter Thiel and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Dorsey made it clear to Musk that the social media site should be privately owned, according to people familiar with the matter. (Twitter was privately owned for the first seven years of its existence.) Dorsey resigned last November after facing pressure from the board to do so due to investor fears that he ran Twitter and Square Inc. Prior to leaving, he and Musk communicated regularly – including via live Twitter messages.
The newspaper also said that when Twitter kicked Donald Trump off the platform for fears he could incite further violence after the January 6 uprising, Musk disagreed. Jared Birchel, Musk’s right-hand man, sent a message to a Musk associate: “He strongly disagrees with censorship. Especially for an incumbent president. Crazy. ”
Musk also accepts the general argument of right-wing commentators that the Twitter activity of certain figures is subject to a “shadow ban” and not an algorithm, according to an investor who spoke to the billionaire recently.
Musk’s purchase was announced by some of the same commentators as a reincarnation of freedom of speech rights on the platform. It is unclear whether Musk will make the site free for all – his plans are fluid – but it seems that those who have been banned in the past will at least want to test the water.
The newspaper reported that right-wing Holocaust skeptic Charles Johnson, who was finally removed from Twitter in 2015 after asking for donations to “take out” a Black Lives Matter activist, recently asked Birchel to regain access to his account.
“When will I get my Twitter account back?” Johnson asked in a text.
“Hopefully soon,” Birchel said.
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