For a man who made a fortune from electric cars, the Twitter takeover has turned into a fairly bumpy ride so far. Soon after buying the social media company for US$44 billion (£38 billion), Elon Musk said he had “no choice” about laying off a large proportion of the company’s staff.
He has already faced a backlash over his move to charge Twitter users a monthly fee for their “blue tick” verified status. And those users should also be concerned about plans from the self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” to reduce content moderation.
Moderation, the screening and blocking of unacceptable online content, has been in place for as long as the internet has existed. And after becoming an increasingly important and sophisticated feature against a rising tide of hate speech, misinformation and illegal content, it should not be undone lightly.
-copy-dd1f2bf0.jpeg?w=600)
