Musk mulls a move into social media

The tech billionaire says Twitter doesn’t allow for free speech. What next, Elon – Truth Social? 

“Am giving serious thought to this” 

If you were a billionaire – in fact, one of the richest people to ever have existed – how much time would you spend getting angry at Twitter? If you’re Elon Musk, the answer is: a lot. Asked for his take on Twitter’s content regulations, Tesla’s top dog tweeted, “Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy”.  

He then followed up by saying that he was “giving serious thought” to the creation of a new social media platform. Admittedly, Musk has developed a reputation for doing his private idea generation in the de facto public town square mentioned above. So whether he’s seriously looking at taking on a new social media-sized challenge or just thinking out loud is anybody’s guess.  

Playing God 

The issue here dates back to Twitter’s decision to try and reign in some of Musk’s Twittering. Few CEOs are quite as accessible as Elon Musk. But when he decided to ask his followers whether or not he should dump some of Tesla’s stock, it led to no small amount of disruption on the market – and a whole lot of criticism besides. 

But these days, the tweet is mightier than the sword, and Musk knows that he’s playing God when he’s haphazardly posting about things that have enormous implications. And if he’s looking to create his own social media platform, the game of God is clearly just beginning. A word of warning, Elon – look how it played out for Donald Trump before you start moving into the marketplace of ideas.