When Elon Musk first notified the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission about his desire to take over Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) and turn it into a privately-held company, he stated, “I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy. Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it.”
Musk did not give details on how he would “unlock” the “extraordinary potential” at Twitter, which was founded in 2006, nor did he offer a hint of his concept of “free speech” — contrary to popular opinion, the First Amendment doesn’t apply to messaging on private sector platforms. Many people assumed Musk would be returning many Twitter-banned individuals and entities to the platform, including former President Donald Trump and The Babylon Bee news satire site, but Musk never said that was his goal.
