Twitter Inc sold! Tesla CEO Elon Musk buys company for USD 44 billion with plans of ‘free speech’

The much-awaited deal between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Twitter Inc has been finalized and the billionaire has finally cinched the social networking website for a whopping amount of $44 billion cash, which amounts up to more than Rs 4,000 crores INR.

Twitter is populated with millions of users and is one of the most influential social networking websites of the current time. With the formal announcement of Twitter being headed by Musk yet to be made, the future of the company remains uncertain.

It is already known that the billionaire will propose a string of changes in the microblogging website once the ownership of the same is transferred to him, as he has been known to criticize some of the policies on Twitter, calling the site out on “hampering” free speech.

Musk has criticized Twitter’s moderation, calling himself a free speech absolutist, saying that Twitter’s algorithm for prioritizing tweets should be public, and has criticized giving too much power on the service to corporations that advertise.

With Musk set to be the new owner of Twitter, the population on the social networking site remains divided about this change in ownership. One half of Twitter is celebrating this change, while the other half is concerned about how calls for free speech might lead to conflicts.

Political activists expect that a Musk regime will mean less moderation and reinstatement of banned individuals including former President Donald Trump. Conservatives cheered the prospect of fewer controls while some human rights activists voiced fears of a rise in hate speech.

Further, Musk has previously discussed some of the changes he would want to introduce to the website. He had said that Twitter needs user-friendly tweaks, such as an edit button and defeating "spambots" that send overwhelming amounts of unwanted tweets.

Meanwhile, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal has expressed his concern about Musk taking over the social networking website. Agrawal had told his employees that the future of Twitter “remains in the dark” after the recent deal. It is believed that if the Twitter CEO is laid off from his post, he will receive a payout of USD 42 million.

(With Reuters inputs)

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