Before becoming of Twitter CEO, owner, and “Director of Twit,” Elon Musk often lobbies for criticism at the platform over its approach Content censorshipeven go as far as Target former corporate policy director Vijaya Gadde. But while Musk has expressed his concerns about “liberal bias” on the platform, many activists, journalists and advocates are outside the US – where majority among resident Twitter users — have begun to worry about how Twitter, which currently has no board of directors or shareholders and is led by an executive with many business entanglements, will react to the Authoritarian and authoritarian governments have long sought to control public opinion.
“The way he deals with pressure from countries like Saudi Arabia,” said David Kaye, former United Nations special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression and clinical law professor. and India — I think those are the main indications of where he’s going with the platform. at the University of California, Irvine.
While Twitter doesn’t have as many users as Facebook or Meta-owned Instagram, it is widely used by activists, civil society groups, journalists, and politicians — all with influence in shaping policy and public opinion. The platform has also proved very important to those who organize protests in places like India, Nigeriaand Argentinaand has created an avenue for people living in highly controlled societies like Saudi Arabia to voice their criticism of their government.
Jason Pielemeier, executive director of the Global Network Initiative, says Musk’s goal is to build a Twitter user base that’s more than just a billion people could also influence his willingness to fight foreign governments to keep content on the platform.
While they may not make up a large portion of Twitter’s revenue stream right now, countries like Turkey, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Pakistan, which have a growing online population, are all are attractive markets as the company looks to grow revenue and increase its user base, according to Pielemeier. However, all of those countries have arguments with Twitter specifically with social media companies, he said. Last year, the Nigerian government command all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to block Twitter after the platform deleted a tweet from the country’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, for violating its policies. Government lift up the ban came only after Twitter agreed to open an office in the country and pay local taxes.
In India, Twitter’s third largest marketthe company has filed a case earlier this year to protest the government’s order to remove pieces of content as well as all accounts that the government considers a risk to India’s security or sovereignty.
But Raman Jit Singh Chima, senior international adviser and Asia Pacific policy director at Access Now, is concerned that Twitter under Musk may not continue the case. (In his August costumes against Twitter, Musk cited the lawsuit in India as a threat to the company’s presence in its third-largest market.) “It would be a vindication of a series of very questionable actions. subject, unconstitutional of the Indian government,” he said. “It also sends a signal to the global tech industry, saying ‘Step back, don’t try to do more.”
