Tesla founder Elon Musk currently owns the singular status of being the wealthiest person in world.
Back in April of 2022, amid a modest amount of fanfare, he purchased a 9.2% stake in Twitter. This caused the keepers of the predominant media narrative to come unglued.
Amusingly, he was able to explain his motives on the very platform that he was in the early stages of acquiring.
“Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy,” Elon tweeted, and then asked his followers, “Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?”
Over 70% of the 2 million participants in his poll responded “No.”
He had already secured a significant degree of celebrity status, having previously grabbed headlines numerous times over and had even taken to the iconic “Saturday Night Live” stage to perform host duties.
Now it looks as though he has become a historical figure of sorts, due in large part to his $44 billion purchase of the company he has characterized as “the de facto public town square.”
Along with the entire world he had watched as a small group of corporations worked hand-in-hand with the government, under the guise of eliminating “misinformation.”
It was a warped process at a minimum, one in which people were stripped of the ability to engage in the free exchange of ideas, something that Americans had previously enjoyed and had even taken for granted.
The stifling of speech in this manner had an additional treacherous impact; that being, the authentic pursuit of truth became a virtual impossibility.
Ironically, many of those who considered themselves to be champions of free speech seemed to have suffered a degeneration in their ability to reason.
CNN ran a piece that carried the headline “Analysis: Elon Musk owning Twitter should give everyone pause.”
The Guardian did a one-up op-ed with the title “Elon Musk’s Twitter Is Going To Be a Disaster.”
And a Wired piece offered the prediction “Elon Musk's Twitter Will Be Chaos.”
For his part, Elon shared a series of text images explaining why he had acquired Twitter.
“There has been much speculation about why I bought Twitter and what I think about advertising,” he posted. “Most of it has been wrong.”
The tech mogul apparently perceived the societal risk that was inherent in the direction social media had been trending.
“There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far right-wing and far left-wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society,” Elon wrote. “In the relentless pursuit of clicks, much of traditional media has fueled and catered to those polarized extremes, as they believe that is what brings in the money, but, in doing so, the opportunity for dialogue is lost.”
“It is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner without resorting to violence,” he added. “… that is why I bought Twitter. I didn’t do it because it would be easy. I didn’t do it to make more money. I did it to try to help humanity, whom I love.”
Leftists on Twitter reacted to Elon’s sentiments in a spiteful adolescent manner.
Writer for The Intercept Jon Schwarz stated, “This would be the traditional kind of town square that’s owned by one guy and funded by huge corporate advertisers.”
Deadline Hollywood associate editor Valerie Complex tweeted, “Im glad I already started distancing myself from Twitter so when this is finalized I can be at peace being on here even less.”
Condé-Nast legal affairs editor Luke Zaleski posted, “What’s the point of being the richest man in the world if you can’t own free speech?”
The Prospect managing editor Ryan Cooper tweeted, “Sounds like curtains for this place.”
Entertainment outlets and Hollywood figures also displayed their collective displeasure.
In its opening, “Saturday Night Live” telegraphed the producers’ loyalties to the Democratic Party via an attack on three mid-term election GOP candidates: Dr. Oz, Herschel Walker, and Kari Lake. It then took aim at its former host through its “Weekend Update” segment, targeting Elon’s purchase.
Writer-producer Shonda Rhimes tendered her judgmental farewell, tweeting, “Not hanging around for whatever Elon has planned. Bye.”
Marina Sirtis, the actress who plays Deanna Troi on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” announced the following: “I’m sorry but I cannot be a part of anything owned by #ELONMUSK and his cabal of deplorable's. I’ll stay on for a couple of days so that we can say goodbye but after that I’m gone.”
“I'm out of here,” Ken Olin, executive producer of “This Is Us,” tweeted.
Elon, who has comically dubbed himself “Chief Twit,” indicated that no decisions on content or reinstating of accounts will be made until a “content moderation council” is put in place.
Still, one potential reinstatement has leftists in an absolute frenzy; that would be the reinstatement of the man of their nightmares and the years-long target of their obsession, former President Donald J. Trump.
Anxieties were heightened when reports came out in May of 2022 that Elon had stated the following: “I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump; I think that was a mistake.”
Although what Twitter will ultimately become still remains to be seen, the new chief has been using his account to celebrate the personal ownership of the platform.
A recent message posted by the entrepreneur perhaps best captures feelings on the part of a vast majority of Twitter users.
Elon tweeted the liberating song lyrics of the late great B.B. King, “Let the good times roll.”
May he keep the bird free.
James Hirsen, J.D., M.A., in media psychology, is a New York Times best-selling author, media analyst, and law professor. Visit Newsmax TV Hollywood. Read James Hirsen's Reports — More Here.
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