Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, and it seems like he hinted that a social media platform may be his next business venture after crucifying Twitter for not protecting free speech.
“Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?” Musk asked when he conducted an informal poll on Friday—the results of which found that just over 70 percent of the more than 2 million respondents said “No.”
“The consequences of this poll will be important,” Musk said. “Please vote carefully.”
Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy.
Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 25, 2022
“Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy,” Musk added. “What should be done?”
Musk answered his question with another question: “Is a new platform needed?”
Is a new platform needed?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 26, 2022
Did Musk suggest that he wants to start his own platform to compete with Twitter?
It’s certainly an interesting idea, and it would be something to see what Musk could potentially come up with, but how many Twitter alternatives do we need at this point? I was recently banned from Twitter, so I now use GETTR and Truth Social exclusively as alternatives, so, quite frankly, I don’t need another Twitter alternative. What we need is a viable alternative to Facebook.
Twitter’s format works for a lot of things, but Facebook is actually in real trouble right now, and a solid competitor may be able to dethrone it—especially one with Musk’s resources. I know there are already some alternatives to Facebook, such as Parler and MeWe… but they’re not quite where they need to be in order to truly compete with Facebook.
Facebook is just as hostile to free speech as Twitter, yet I’m not sure why Musk would think we need another Twitter alternative when it is far more accurate to call Facebook the de facto public town square.
If you want to get into the social media business, Mr. Musk, target Facebook.
