Elon Musk attends the opening ceremony of the new Tesla Gigafactory for electric cars in Gruenheide, Germany, March 22, 2022. Patrick Pleul/Pool via REUTERS
March 27 – Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) chief executive officer Elon Musk is “seriously” considering building a new social media platform, the billionaire said in a tweet on Saturday.
Musk responded to a Twitter user’s question about whether he would consider building a social media platform consisting of an open-source algorithm and a platform that prioritizes freedom of expression and where propaganda is minimal .
Musk, himself a prolific Twitter user, has recently criticized the social media platform and its policies. He said the company is undermining democracy by not upholding the principles of free speech.
His tweet comes a day after he published a Twitter poll asking users if they think Twitter upholds the principle of free speech, to which over 70% voted “no.”
“The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully,” he said on Friday.
If Musk decides to proceed with creating a new platform, he would join a growing portfolio of tech companies that position themselves as advocates of free speech and hope to attract users who feel their opinions are being heard on platforms like Twitter (TWTR .N), Facebook by Meta Platform (FB.O) and YouTube by Google (GOOGL.O) by Alphabet. Continue reading
None of the companies, including Donald Trump’s Truth Social, Twitter competitors Gettr and Parler, and video site Rumble, have come close to matching the reach and popularity of mainstream platforms.
Reporting by Jahnavi Nidumolu and Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru; Adaptation of Lincoln Feast.