- The Tesla CEO’s purchase caps a six-month saga about the social media giant’s future.
Elon Musk has officially taken control of Twitter after finalizing a $44 billion deal to buy the social network.
In one of his first decisions at the helm of the social media giant, Musk, the world’s richest man, fired three top executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal, several U.S.-based media outlets reported Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and Vijaya Gadde, head of legal, political, and trust affairs, were also reportedly fired.
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Sean Edgett, Twitter’s general counsel, was also fired, the Washington Post reported, citing an anonymous source.
Following the reports, Musk tweeted “the bird is released,” referencing the social network’s bird logo.
Musk and Twitter have yet to confirm the layoffs.
The Tesla CEO’s purchase caps a six-month saga in which Twitter initially resisted Musk’s takeover offer and then sued the billionaire after he signaled he would reject the deal over concerns about spam accounts and whistleblower claims about lax cybersecurity practices.
Musk’s interest in the platform has become a lightning rod for the debate about free speech in the digital age. Critics have expressed concern that Musk’s reign could mean an open list for hate speech and disinformation, while many conservatives have heralded the takeover as a corrective to Big Tech’s censorship of politically incorrect views.
Musk, who describes himself as an “absolutist of free speech,” has criticized Twitter’s moderation policies and opposed censorship that goes beyond the requirements of the law. In May, Musk said he would reinstate former U.S. President Donald Trump’s Twitter account, which was removed for allegedly inciting violence in the wake of the Jan. 6 riots at the U.S. Capitol.
Musk has also expressed discomfort with the platform’s reliance on advertising and is widely anticipated to oversee major job cuts at the company, though he has reportedly denied a Washington Post report suggesting he plans to cut 75 percent of the workforce.
In a lengthy message posted on Twitter ahead of Friday’s purchase deadline, Musk, who previously changed his Twitter bio to “Chief Twit,” denied any intention of turning the platform into a “free hellscape for all.”
“The reason I acquired Twitter is that it’s important for the future of civilization to have a common digital plaza, where you can debate a wide range of beliefs in a healthy way, without resorting to violence,” he said.
Musk, who has portrayed himself as a moderate, regularly intervenes in politics and has drawn criticism with unorthodox proposals to handle geopolitical flashpoints ranging from Taiwan to Ukraine.
The billionaire announced earlier this year that he would vote Republican in the upcoming election, as Democrats had become the “party of division and hate,” but later said he supported moderate candidates from both parties.
Source: AL JAZEERA
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