What was going to do in this galley? When, this winter, Elon Musk set out to buy the Twitter social network, it was the general astonishment. Why would the richest man in the world spend $ 44 billion (44.1 billion euros) to take control of a forum where he was freely expressed with more than 100 million subscribers? To defend freedom of expression, answers this libertarian, who claims to want to create the digital agora of the XXI e century, a free and peaceful discussion forum. Elon Musk is right in his observation, social networks have become more and more polarized, invaded by extremists, carrying hatred, manipulations and hubbub. But is Elon Musk the solution?
This is not the first time that a billionaire has had a press empire in the United States. Whether it is Michael Bloomberg, Rupert Murdoch (Wall Street Journal) or Jeff Bezos (Washington Post), all of them more or less strongly print their brand. As for the main social network, Facebook, it is controlled by Mark Zuckerberg. Nothing new, alas, would we be tempted to say.
What is on the other hand unprecedented is that Elon Musk loudly expresses his opinions, libertarian – he has the right -, and gets more and more directly in the political and international debate, proposing his plans peace in Ukraine and Taiwan. On the Agora 2.0, one cannot be both a co -moderator and the main speaker. Likewise, Mr. Musk has an empire behind him, made of Tesla and SpaceX. Admittedly, he claims to work for the good of humanity, but he is in the direct exercise of political power, even war, as shown by the use of his Starlink satellites in Ukraine, Iran, or his silence in China, where he must defend the financial interests of his Tesla factory located in Shanghai. The risk of conflict of interest, in this man who locks his businesses as a bunker, is major. On the Agora 2.0 as elsewhere, you cannot be both a referee and a player.
The sale being made, it is advisable to limit the nuisances. Economically, the company ran to its loss, with a derisory turnover of $ 5.2 billion, twenty-five times lower than that of the Facebook group. Its reinvention is necessary, while the network was deserted by moderate subscribers. Mr. Musk claims to reconquer them, by fighting in particular against false accounts, but he will undoubtedly reopen the valves to polarization by unlocking a whole series of suspended accounts.
Most of the debate relates to the moderation and propagation of conspiracy theses. Recall that the most problematic network so far has been Facebook. If Twitter found himself at the center of the debates, it is because he was Donald Trump’s favorite social network. Mr. Musk announced the creation of a moderation council, made of various personalities. One of the first tests will be or not the account of the ex-president of the United States. His ban was obvious in January 2021, while he was de facto a coup. Two years later, Trump has no speaker, but still threatens democracy. As long as he claims that the elections have been stolen, Trump should not regain his account. As for Elon Musk, specialist in trolls and manipulations as he showed in 2018 with Tesla, to the point of being almost forbidden to tweet on the subject by the gendarme of the American stock market, he would be well inspired to give a pledge of serenity to be up to the mission it has set for itself. His first gesture should be to put his account in silence.