Elon Musk said he is purchasing the platform to help humanity and doesn’t want it to become a “free-for-all hellscape” on Thursday, a day before a deadline to close out on his $44 billion acquisition of the social media network.
The letter appears to be intended to allay worries among advertisers, who make up Twitter’s main source of income, that Musk’s promises to support free speech by reducing content moderation will unleash a wave of online toxicity and drive users away.
Also read: Twitter reacts to Elon Musk buying the social media platform
“The reason I acquired Twitter is because 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,” Musk wrote in an uncharacteristically long message for the Tesla CEO, who typically projects his thoughts in one-line tweets.
He continued: “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.”
Musk has previously expressed distaste for advertising and Twitter’s dependence on it, suggesting more emphasis on other business models such as paid subscriptions that won’t allow big corporations to dictate policy on how social media operates. But on Thursday, he assured advertisers he wants Twitter to be “the most respected advertising platform in the world.”
Also read: Elon Musk confirms buying Twitter for $44B to enable ‘healthy’ debate of ideas
According to Pinar Yildirim, an associate professor of marketing at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Musk’s opinion that Twitter is unfairly restricting free expression rights by removing false information or graphic content has changed as a result of the memo.
It’s also a recognition, she added, that not moderating content is bad for business and could result in Twitter losing advertising and subscribers.
“You do not want a place where consumers just simply are bombarded with things they do not want to hear about, and the platform takes no responsibility,” Yildirim said.
According to Musk, Twitter should be “warm and welcoming to all” and provide users the option to customise their experience.
Also read: Musk enters Twitter headquarters with a sink, tweets: “Let that sink in”
Regarding the upcoming acquisition, he claimed, “I didn’t do it to make money. I did it to try to help humanity, whom I love. And I do so with humility, recognising that failure in pursuing this goal, despite our best efforts, is a very real possibility.”
Friday’s deadline to close the deal was ordered by the Delaware Chancery Court in early October. It is the latest step in a battle that began in April with Musk signing a deal to acquire Twitter, then tried to back out of it, leading Twitter to sue the Tesla CEO to force him to go through with the acquisition. If the two sides don’t meet Friday’s deadline, the next step could be a November trial that could lead to a judge forcing Musk to complete the deal.
But Musk has been signaling that the deal is going through. He strolled into the company’s San Francisco headquarters Wednesday carrying a porcelain sink, changed his Twitter profile to “Chief Twit,” and tweeted “Entering Twitter HQ — let that sink in!”
Also read: Elon Musk would be angry at staff for not working till 9 pm: Ex-coworker
In addition, the New York Stock Exchange informed investors overnight that it will halt trading in Twitter shares before Friday’s opening bell in anticipation of Musk’s plan to take the firm private.
According to an internal document quoted by numerous media sites, Musk is anticipated to talk to Twitter staff members directly on Friday if the sale is completed. Despite internal strife and low morale brought on by worries about layoffs or the deconstruction of the company’s operations and culture, Twitter management have at least publicly welcomed Musk’s arrival and messages this week.
Top sales executive Sarah Personette, the company’s chief customer officer, said she had a “great discussion” with Musk on Wednesday and appeared to endorse his Thursday message to advertisers.
Also read: Reports about national security review of Elon Musk’s businesses not true: White House
“Our continued commitment to brand safety for advertisers remains unchanged,” Personette tweeted Thursday. “Looking forward to the future!”
In stark contrast to one of his earlier recommendations—that the facility be converted into a homeless shelter because so few people really worked there—obvious Musk’s excitement about visiting Twitter’s headquarters this week.
The Washington Post reported last week that Musk had informed potential investors that, should he acquire Twitter, he would lay off approximately 75 percent of its 7,500 employees. The newspaper cited records and unidentified persons who were acquainted with the discussion.
Also read: Elon Musk on Starlink: We’ll just keep funding Ukraine government for free
Musk has criticised Twitter’s “spam bots” for months and made occasionally inconsistent statements about the issues with Twitter and how to fix them. However, he hasn’t provided many specifics about his ambitions for the social networking site.
The message sent to advertisers on Thursday reveals a renewed focus on generating revenue from advertising, particularly the need for Twitter to offer more “relevant ads,” which are often targeted ads that depend on gathering and analysing user data.
According to Yildirim, Twitter has not been effective in focusing ads on what people want to see, in contrast to Facebook. According to her, Musk’s message shows that he intends to correct it.
Also read: Why Elon Musk-Twitter deal is shaping up to be an ideal B-school case study
Insider Intelligence principal analyst Jasmine Enberg said Musk has good reason to avoid a massive shakeup of Twitter’s ad business because Twitter’s revenues have taken a beating from the weakening economy, months of uncertainty surrounding Musk’s proposed takeover, changing consumer behaviors and the fact that “there’s no other revenue source waiting in the wings.”
“Even slightly loosening content moderation on the platform is sure to spook advertisers, many of whom already find Twitter’s brand safety tools to be lacking compared with other social platforms,” Enberg said.