To make Twitter work as he wants it to, Elon Musk needs to articulate a simple unambiguous one-sentence vision that will inspire and focus his people. (Illustration by Suneesh K.)
Has there been a more interesting takeover story in recent times than Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter? Almost certainly not.
For one, this is being played out in full 24x7 public gaze, with both Musk and his detractors using the very platform that they are fighting over to announce their moves, stir debate and berate one another.
Also, this is more than business. It is essentially a war of ideas, of what true freedom of expression is. Musk calls himself a “free speech absolutist”; his opponents believe that some speech is too hurtful and dangerous to be permitted and Twitter’s new owner could do irreparable harm to public discourse and society at large.
Musk has always had the air of a scrappy schoolboy about him, and in Twitter, he seems to have found the biggest fight of his life.
The crux of the matter, of course, is that Twitter is a town square where users express their views on anything under the sun, including crazed rants, fake information and conspiracy theories. Tempers often run high and vicious exchanges are common. Yet it is also the platform through which governments and heads of state—from the White House and Narendra Modi to the Taliban—communicate on a daily basis to the world. It is a real-time gauge of public opinion—at least the public of a certain demographic—on vital and sensitive issues.
And suddenly, the platform is wholly owned by one man, who also happens to be the wealthiest person on earth.
The company’s content moderation moves—what Musk and his supporters term as censorship—have faced serious criticism in the past, especially from the so-called right wing. After Donald Trump lost the US presidential election in 2020, Twitter placed a permanent ban on him. This, when Trump received 74.2 million votes—48 percent of all votes cast.
Musk has lifted that ban, though Trump says that he will not return to Twitter.
In the run-up to the election, Twitter suppressed an explosive news report on material found on a laptop owned by Hunter Biden, son of then-presidential candidate Joe Biden, that indicated that Hunter had used his father’s name and position to earn millions of dollars from Chinese and Ukrainian companies. A wide dissemination of this news could have hurt Biden’s prospects.
Musk says that Twitter “interfered with elections”, and has, through independent journalist Matt Taibbi, released internal documents that seem to be shocking proof that Twitter, after being requested by Joe Biden’s campaign managers, broke its own norms to scrub out all references to Hunter Biden’s shenanigans that could have implicated his father. In short, Twitter was actively campaigning for Biden.
Some other dirty linen has been exposed. It appears that in spite of repeated complaints, the platform refused to take action against pedophilic posts which sometimes even carried videos of child sexual abuse. Musk has banned these users.
A wide dissemination of this news could have hurt Biden’s prospects. At least two top Twitter executives, including former CEO Jack Dorsey, have since admitted that the company’s action was a grave mistake.
Musk has said that Twitter “interfered with elections”, and has hinted that he would make public internal documents that proved the company’s biases. He has also brought back tens of thousands of users who had been banned by Twitter, many of whom are labelled as far-right voices.
Some other dirty linen has been exposed. It appears that in spite of repeated complaints, the platform refused to take action against pedophilic posts which sometimes even carried videos of child sexual abuse. Musk has banned these users.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 2, 2022
Can Musk pull off what he has set his heart on? Till now, he has been following a path of what he believes to be creative destruction. But building something new requires much more time and effort than demolishing an existing structure. Musk has admitted that in the next few months, he and his team could be making a lot of decisions that may turn out to be wrong, but he intends to keep course-correcting swiftly till he gets it right.
He faces an enormous business challenge. The $44 billion that he has paid to acquire the company may be significantly higher than its fair value. He claims that Twitter is losing $4 million per day. In the second quarter of 2022, the company reported a loss of $270 million on a revenue of $1.2 billion.
— Matt Taibbi (@mtaibbi) December 2, 2022
The ruthless slashing of the workforce, by 60 percent or more, should have improved the bottom line. But Musk faces a problem that he may not have anticipated—an advertiser exodus. According to a research report, as many as 50 of Twitter’s top 100 advertisers have suspended their spend on the platform since the takeover, adopting a wait-and-watch policy. These include huge global brands like Ford, Chevrolet, Coca-Cola, Citibank, LinkedIn, Meta, Hewlett-Packard, Heinz and Heineken. These companies spent nearly $2 billion on advertisements on the platform since 2020, and over $750 million in 2022 alone.
The task before Musk is to totally reinvent the company, from its content moderation algorithms to its work culture and ideology. He has made it clear that Twitter executives will now have to work brutal hours, just as the people in Musk’s other companies like Tesla and SpaceX do.
A friend of mine, a very senior manager in a leading global tech firm, raises an interesting question in this context. Tesla and SpaceX have very clear missions. Tesla wants to drive the world’s transition to electric cars. SpaceX wants to “make humanity multiplanetary”, carrying Homo Sapiens to Mars and other planets in the solar system. These are easily articulated visions that align all employees and also generate devout passion. The believers do not mind working 18 hours a day, seven days a week.
What is that transcendental mission that Musk can offer in Twitter?
The best definition of freedom of expression came from the French writer and philosopher Voltaire, who said: “I may not agree with what you have to say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” This is a difficult idea to grasp. Most of us may admire free speech as a concept, but very few of us are able to abide by it in our thoughts and actions. The sort of commitment that Musk has commanded in his other ventures may be difficult to generate for a free speech ideal that, when it comes to the crunch, could be entirely subjective.
To make Twitter work as he wants it to, he needs to articulate a simple unambiguous one-sentence vision that will inspire and focus his people. And it has to be something other than “We will change the world”, though that may actually be what Musk dreams about.
Musk is an extraordinary engineer and entrepreneur, but his Twitter foray has taken him to areas that are far beyond the ken of engineering. His success or failure may not change the world, but the battle, as long as it lasts, will remain fascinating.
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