Musk says he may not “actually be able to” buy Twitter, he is motivated by its public interest value, it should open source its algorithm, and he has a Plan B

The billionaire made his first public comments about his Twitter takeover efforts at the TED 2022 conference

The Verge 2022-04-16 Mia Sato

Context & Ripple Effects

The related coverage places these remarks at the start of a broader effort to recast Twitter around transparency: days later, Musk expanded the case for opening the algorithm to build trust alongside bot reduction and human authentication. The subsequent record also moves from a tentative purchase to Musk addressing Twitter employees after an agreement, making the early uncertainty and stated rationale consequential.

Twitter had built a record of defending user privacy and speech rights against unmasking requests; related coverage flags that those protections could be tested under Musk, connecting an algorithm-transparency agenda to the platform's existing governance posture.

First-order effects

Musk publicly makes an acquisition attempt conditional rather than settled, while putting open-sourcing Twitter's algorithm at the center of his public-interest case.
Twitter faces immediate scrutiny over whether its algorithmic systems and governance approach align with the transparency Musk is demanding.

Second-order effects

Twitter's privacy and free-speech positions become part of the acquisition debate, because a new owner’s transparency agenda may alter how the company balances disclosure against user protections.
Musk's later emphasis on spam measurement and authentication puts Twitter's account-quality reporting under greater pressure, as reflected in the CEO's public explanation of its spam-counting process.

Third-order effects

If ownership changes repeatedly become vehicles for changing ranking and moderation rules, control of a social platform's governance shifts further from institutional policy to proprietor-led product decisions.
Algorithm disclosure, account authenticity, and content enforcement are converging into a single trust-and-governance agenda for major social platforms.

The trend: Social-platform ownership contests are increasingly becoming fights over the rules, data signals, and transparency that govern public conversation.

Discussion

@alwaleed_talal @alwaleed_talal on x
I don't believe that the proposed offer by @elonmusk ($54.20) comes close to the intrinsic value of @Twitter given its growth prospects. Being one of the largest & long-term shareholders of Twitter, @Kingdom_KHC & I reject this offer. https://twitter.com/... https://twitter.com/.…
@zerohedge @zerohedge on x
Well this is awkward: TWTR board hired Goldman to “advise” it that the @elonmusk $54.20 offer is too low. Only problem: Goldman has a SELL rating with a $30 price target. Oops. https://twitter.com/...
@neil_irwin Neil Irwin on x
American hero @matt_levine interrupted his vacation to write about Elon and Twitter and we are all grateful. https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@matt_levine Matt Levine on x
oh fine https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@alexstamos Alex Stamos on x
God, I wish I could write like @matt_levine https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@jtemple James Temple on x
Just a gem-filled take on Musk and Twitter from @CaseyNewton, including: https://www.platformer.news/ ... https://twitter.com/...
@mmasnick Mike Masnick on x
I assume this post walking through all the things Elon Musk shows he does not understand about content moderation will be read calmly with the responses and my inbox will fill with thoughtful nuanced replies. https://www.techdirt.com/...
@benedictevans Benedict Evans on x
Watching Elon say that you should be allowed to say anything ‘legal’ online, which is what everyone says until they discover how social networks work https://livestream.com/...
@mcuban Mark Cuban on x
My conclusion, @elonmusk is fucking with the SEC. His filing w/the SEC allows him to say he wants to take a company private for $54.20 😂 Vs his “Am considering taking Tesla private at $420. Funding secured” Price go up. His shares get sold. Profit⬆️ SEC like WTF just happened.
@frankluntz Frank Luntz on x
“Twitter is not the town square, and it's a ridiculous analogy. The Internet itself is the town square. Twitter is just one private shop in that town square with its own rules.” https://www.techdirt.com/...
@can @can on x
ppl are legit bothered by the idea of a crazy person owning the public town square but like the same ppl wold probz say “wow congrats” if their friend went on to get a job at meta platforms aka facebook, a real town square owned by a crazy person — the biggest prob in tech!
@nash076 @nash076 on x
This is how bids happen: rumor, leaks, but nobody is screaming from a hilltop with a trumpet up their ass. Unlike Elon. https://nypost.com/...
@evacide Eva on x
There is no room to quote all of @mmasnick's take on Musk's understanding of content moderation, free speech, and the public square, so just read it yourself because his take is the right take: https://www.techdirt.com/...
@jayrosen_nyu Jay Rosen on x
In this post about how little Musk understands, @mmasnick has to keep saying “as anyone who has lived through (or read up on) the history of content moderation knows...” https://www.techdirt.com/... On content moderation Musk is like a chess player still learning how the rook mov…
@fawfulfan Matthew Chapman on x
What's telling is that none of these people ever say what they are banned from saying on social media. They claim in the abstract “conservative viewpoints” are being censored, but they never actually point to what conservative viewpoints, specifically, are being censored. https:/…
@alexhern Alex Hern on x
One of the funnier subplots of Musk/twitter is that he literally shut down the press office of his $1trn car company because “its main channel for product promotion is Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk's Twitter account”... which he didn't own and didn't control
@jason_pontin Jason Pontin on x
I could make Twitter much better with a half dozen simple design fixes. I could make it radically better—Utopian good—with another six architectural and business model reforms. Let me run the place in my spare time from finding, funding, and growing Deep Tech breakthroughs. https…
@joshuatopolsky Joshua Topolsky on x
A deliciously fun read https://www.bloomberg.com/...
@arcalinea Jay Graber on x
The reason a platform as important as Twitter should be a protocol is that someone buying the company, or any other crazy thing that could happen over the long course of history, shouldn't disrupt this essential tool for human connection and social sense-making.
@charlesarthur Charles Arthur on x
Hearing Elon say Twitter should open source its algorithm and looking forward to Tesla doing the same for its AutoPilot software
@davidrlurie @davidrlurie on x
@ScottNover The SEC consent decree will remain in place, whoever owns Twitter, unless and until the judge rules otherwise. Musk plainly hates that fact.
@leahculver Leah Culver on x
Forming a DAO to buy Twitter.
@maxkennerly Max Kennerly on x
The one consistent thing through Elon Musk's temper tantrum has been his total inability to grasp the basics of how social media works. It is, for example, 100% “legal” to use the reply function to spam everyone. Users get banned for it because of Twitter's Terms of Service. http…
@nick_stevens_gr NickStevens Graphics on x
Elon Musk's Twitter takeover could undo years of progress https://techcrunch.com/... via @techcrunch “Twitter has a beautiful culture of hilarious constructive criticism, and I saw that go silent because of his minions attacking employees,”
@alexstamos Alex Stamos on x
It's shocking that Elon has such a childish view of what has to happen every day just to make social media usable. He's spectacularly poorly prepared for this. Reminder: there are 3-5 orders of magnitude more moderation 99% of users agree with than the hard political calls. https…
@edbott Ed Bott on x
“Mr. Musk, that person from the SEC is still holding on line 2, and your lawyers are calling on line 3.” https://twitter.com/...
@tyler Tyler Winklevoss on x
Censorship is bad enough, but the coordination between social media companies, the media, and the government has been downright sinister. Hopeful that @elonmusk can fix this.
@tracyalloway Tracy Alloway on x
Asked if funding is secured, @elonmusk says “I can do it if possible” and I feel like this perfectly circular response is something that I will be borrowing a lot going forward. Editor: Can you get it to me by Tuesday? Me: “I can do it if possible.”
@rmac18 @rmac18 on x
Musk is talking about “his obsession with truth” on stage right now. Four years ago, he tried to get me to write that a British cave rescuer in Thailand was a “child rapist” because of false information fed to him by a fake private investigator.
@decryptmedia Decrypt on x
“It takes some pretty impressive mental gymnastics to associate any type of ‘freedom’ with the richest man in the world initiating a hostile takeover,” says @ummjackson, co-creator of Dogecoin. https://decrypt.co/... https://twitter.com/...
@alexstamos Alex Stamos on x
There is no way you unlock the value of Twitter by making it 99.9% porn, fake Ray-Ban and male enhancement ads. He really doesn't seem to understand the adversarial nature of running any online speech platform. @elonmusk, happy to privately speedrun my trust and safety class! htt…
@eleanorterrett Eleanor Terrett on x
In his Ted talk, @elonmusk is talking about letting Twitter run similarly to the blockchain where the algorithms are controlled by the community rather than a handful of people writing and enforcing the rules.
@kurtwagner8 Kurt Wagner on x
“In my view, Twitter should match the laws of the country.” - Elon Musk on how Twitter should handle user speech. Said the algorithm code should all be public.
@scottnover Scott Nover on x
Elon Musk can buy Twitter but he still can't tweet about Tesla without a lawyer's approval. https://twitter.com/...
@samidh @samidh on x
Effective moderation is not inherently in conflict with free speech. It is required for people to feel free to speak. Anyone who doesn't get this has a high school stoner level grasp of societal issues and has never spent 5 min working on trust & safety. https://www.bloomberg.com…
@business @business on x
BREAKING: Elon Musk says he's “not sure that I will actually be able to” acquire Twitter in his first public comments about the takeover offer https://www.bloomberg.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@tayhatmaker Taylor Hatmaker on x
elon musk log off challenge https://techcrunch.com/...
@tayhatmaker Taylor Hatmaker on x
I wrote about how Elon Musk could undo a lot of Twitter's recent progress on serious platform problems like misinformation and harassment. Content moderation isn't rocket science but it isn't what he's making it out to be, either. https://techcrunch.com/...
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
Elon Musk gives Twitter reasons to reject his bid https://www.axios.com/...
@gartenberg Michael Gartenberg on x
Perhaps he should buy Clubhouse? He can have a platform for rambling, a16z makes a buck or two and the rest of us can ignore all three. https://techcrunch.com/...
@charlesarthur Charles Arthur on x
🙄 of course there's absolutely no way this won't be gamed by the people who have the most to gain from gaming the algorithm https://twitter.com/...
@alexweprin Alex Weprin on x
Elon Musk says he has a “Plan B” if Twitter's board rejects his takeover offer. Pitches Twitter as an open-source social network with minimal censorship. The details: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ ...
@lanceulanoff Lance Ulanoff on x
Why do people think “Open Source” is the answer to everything? https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/ ...
@kurtwagner8 Kurt Wagner on x
Musk's thoughts on policing users: * if it's in a gray area, leave it up * more temporary suspensions, be careful with permanent bans * you need to be able to say stuff people disagree with Twitter, of course, would argue it already does all of this stuff
@andyjayhawk @andyjayhawk on x
Musk has said he felt “coerced” into settling with the SEC over his “funding secured” tweet, but has yet to provide any evidence to refute the SEC's findings that funding was actually not secured. https://twitter.com/...
@byyourlogic @byyourlogic on x
Twitter takeover stuff made me think of this again. this story really died a prolonged death https://www.theverge.com/...
@lisaabramowicz1 Lisa Abramowicz on x
Elon Musk says his bid for Twitter is intended to create “an inclusive arena for free speech,” not as a way to make money. “I don't care about the economics at all.” “I could technically afford,” although he adds he doesn't know whether he'll be able to. https://www.bloomberg.com…
@tprstly Theo Priestley on x
And there's the dump https://twitter.com/...
@rsarver Ryan Sarver on x
I love the *idea* of @elonmusk buying twitter. But I fear he's spent about as much time thinking through the really complex challenges of how to fix it as most people do their fantasy football lineup.
@richerd @richerd on x
If Elon' offer to buy Twitter is rejected. The next logical move is to create a DAO and attempt to buy Twitter ourselves. We can call it the Titter DAO as homage (for the culture of course)
@pmarca Marc Andreessen on x
Elon must not be allowed to impose his refusal to censor us on us.
@mattblaze Matt Blaze on x
I'm sure the erratic billionaire guy will mature and grow in to it once the deal is settled.
@arcalinea Jay Graber on x
Power changes hands many times across centuries. It's been a little over a decade since online social networks were created. We have to take the long view and think, “what if someone bad takes this over,” and build more resilient systems.
@nickadobos Nick Dobos on x
How do you simultaneously open source the algorithm and remove all bots? Won't the bots just get better? Proof of Stake?
@nickadobos Nick Dobos on x
Least surprising TED talk ever lol
@ncweaver Nicholas Weaver on x
Gee, I wonder if this is just a pump & dump scheme to try to make his buy-a-board-seat purchase less incredibly dumb... https://twitter.com/...
@joerogan Joe Rogan on x
Praise Odin for Elon Musk. https://www.instagram.com/...
@brosandprose Ella Dawson on x
Are we really asking Elon Musk how he's ~so good~ at Twitter, instead of asking about the out of control racial and gender discrimination at Tesla under his leadership? Or his tweets comparing Trudeau to Hitler? Or his avoidance of COVID safety regulations at his factories?
@wolfofwallst Jordan Belfort on x
Elon Musk Ted Talk — he just called the SEC a bunch of bastards! Classic!
@joepompliano Joe Pompliano on x
Elon is speaking about Twitter at TED. He says he doesn't “have all the answers” but that the algorithm should be open-sourced. He wants to limit spam & his main objective is to defend free speech. He also says it's not about money. “I don't care about the economics at all.” http…
@brij Brij Singh on x
Twitter board has execs from salesforce and silverlake. They will get competitive offers. I wonder what made Musk go all “barbarians at the gate” with his low ball offer. Raise the offer and get all the employees to root for you! https://www.theinformation.com/ ...
@lizrummy @lizrummy on x
He has not thought about the implementation before this moment https://twitter.com/...
@ericnewcomer Eric Newcomer on x
I mean Donald Trump named his social media company “Truth Social.” Reassuring to hear they're both so obsessed with truth https://twitter.com/...
@ryanwhitwam Ryan Whitwam on x
It's pretty telling that every right-wing asshole account is cheering for the richest man in the world as he tries to buy a website in the name of “free speech.” Yes, the same people who are doing book bans and restricting what teachers can say.
@caseynewton Casey Newton on x
I honestly would have bet money that Elon Musk ended that by saying “Thank you for coming to my TED talk”
@kurtwagner8 Kurt Wagner on x
TED talk is over. I think the biggest takeaway here is that despite Musk loudly claiming he wants to buy Twitter because of free speech issues, most of the things he mentioned he would do wrt policing speech felt like things Twitter already does. Clear there isn't a master plan h…
@alexstamos Alex Stamos on x
@elonmusk Also not sure how Twitter stays up and running in a 0% tech unemployment economy when he continuously insults the employee base. A question for enterprising reporters: does accepting a tender to go private trigger accelerated vesting of RSUs? If so... swoosh out the doo…
@mmasnick Mike Masnick on x
As I said a few weeks ago, Elon does not want “free speech” or “no moderation” on Twitter. He just wants *different* moderation. https://twitter.com/...
@pt @pt on x
This is just a specific case of the general: trust in institutions is good, actually. That's a good reason to algorithmically discourage the grifters who monetize erosion of trust in institutions on mainstream apps, not to see their grift as a “free speech” issue. https://twitter…
@karlbode Karl Bode on x
very large chance it's all a big, dumb distraction https://www.theverge.com/... https://twitter.com/...
@danprimack Dan Primack on x
Tend to agree with this. That said, Facebook is controlled by a single person. It's publicly traded, but one man controls the vote. https://twitter.com/...
@karaswisher Kara Swisher on x
Btw the TED audience is the perfect place for Elon to unload. They love being there in the room and they will be friendly. Elon can certainly handle tough questions, but with little pushback this is the interview equivalent of a high five. That said, perfect timing! https://twitt…
@jtemple James Temple on x
It's especially impressive that his most concrete proposal (beyond a misogynistic name change) is a product already in the works. https://twitter.com/...
@juliafawal Julia Fawal on x
“I'm not saying I have all the answers here” says @elonmusk at #TED2022 in response to very basic questions about “free speech” & what he wants to change at Twitter. He says he'll add an edit button, but has no answer on how to manage it. He's got no answers to these softball Qs.
@kurtwagner8 Kurt Wagner on x
Is there a Plan B if the board rejects your offer? “There is,” Musk says, but declined to share.

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