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Here is some sage advice for those who are apoplectic over the idea of Elon Musk owning Twitter: if you don’t like it, then start your own social media company.
On Thursday, news broke that Elon Musk had offered to buy Twitter for $43 billion.
In his letter to the company, the Tesla CEO explained that this offer was his “best and final” and also added that if it were declined he would need to reconsider his position as a shareholder.
To make matters worse for triggered journalists everywhere, Musk said he believes “free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy.”
The horror.
The world’s richest man is willing to pay billions to save free speech. Whether Twitter takes him up on this offer remains to be seen. One thing is for certain though — the subsequent meltdowns from the verified keyboard warriors were priceless.
The Washington Post’s Max Boot kicked off the hysteria with this tweet: “I am frightened by the impact on society and politics if Elon Musk acquires Twitter. He seems to believe that on social media anything goes. For democracy to survive, we need more content moderation, not less.”
The key to democracy’s survival is censorship? What a hot take! China’s democracy must be thriving right about now.
Boot was only the beginning. The Twitterati’s tantrums escalated quickly. Many blue checks threatened (promised?) to leave the platform if Musk’s bid succeeded.
Don’t get your hopes up though. After all, the same people currently hyperventilating about a potential Musk-owned Twitter had previously assured us they would move to Canada if Donald Trump won in 2016. Alas the I’m With Her exodus was not to be.
Over at MSNBC, the Biden cheerleaders were even more unhinged and panicked than usual. A worried Katy Tur whined, “There are real and devastating consequences for using that platform to lie. And we’ve seen it, we’ve seen it happen.”
We have seen it. For example, one real and devastating consequence of using that platform to lie is that you could spread Nazi propaganda. That is what happened just a few weeks ago when MSNBC tweeted out a clip of Michael McFaul on The Rachel Maddow Show.
In the since-deleted clip, McFaul falsely claimed that Adolf Hitler did not order the deaths of “ethnic Germans” during the Holocaust. Does Tur think McFaul’s mistake (and so many others whoopsies from her colleagues) should lead to MSNBC’s Twitter account being censored?
Not to be outdone, Joe Scarborough also voiced his concern about people using Twitter to spread “election falsehoods.” Is Joe suggesting that Elon Musk ban Hillary Clinton and Stacey Abrams if he takes over? Should Joe be banned for spreading the Russia hoax for years on end?
The blue checks who are terrified of dissenting opinions should team up with Twitter’s disgruntled anti-Elon employees and create a new platform. Maybe one of the good billionaires (like Jeff Bezos or George Soros) can head up this company. This new platform can be full of “fake but accurate” stories (think the Steele Dossier) while also keeping out dangerous disinformation (think Hunter Biden’s laptop). I even have an idea for a name: SafeSpace.
Deal or no deal… the last twenty-four hours on Twitter have been nothing short of fantastic.
