Elon Musk reveals his stake in Twitter shortly after questioning Twitter’s commitment to free speech
New Delhi:
Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk started a poll on Twitter, asking users if they wanted an edit button.
“Do you want an edit button?” tweeted Musk, who disclosed a 9.2% stake in the microblogging site, making him its largest shareholder.
Do you want an edit button?
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 5, 2022
The most prominent of the many responses to the poll was that of Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal. “The consequences of this poll will be important. Vote carefully,” he tweeted.
The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully. https://t.co/UDJIvznALB
– Parag Agrawal (@paraga) April 5, 2022
Musk revealed his stake in Twitter shortly after his tweet questioned Twitter’s commitment to free speech and asked users if a new platform was needed.
“Freedom of speech is essential to a working democracy. Do you believe Twitter adheres to this principle?” he tweeted.
“Given that Twitter serves as a de facto public town square, failure to adhere to free speech principles essentially undermines democracy. What should be done?” Musk said, adding, “Is there a need for a new platform?”
A prolific Twitter user, Musk has more than 80 million followers since he joined the site in 2009 and has used the platform to make a number of announcements.
In the end, however, he criticized the social media platform and its policies, saying the company was undermining democracy by failing to adhere to free speech principles.
The buzz about an edit button on Twitter – a long-pending user demand – was rekindled on April 1 when the platform tweeted that it was working on an edit button.
While many users welcomed the announcement, others wondered if it was an April Fools joke.
Earlier, Twitter teased users about using the edit button. In 2020, they announced that they will introduce this feature as people start wearing masks amid the Covid pandemic. “You can have an edit button when people are wearing masks,” Twitter announced.
