Parag Agrawal (Liberal Twitter CEO) broke his silence to report that Elon Musk, billionaire and freedom-of-expression advocate, had purchased Twitter.
“Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world. Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important,”Agrawal announced in an April 25 tweet. His post quote-tweeted a statementTwitter’s Independent Board Chairman Bret Taylor announcing: “The Twitter Board has reached an agreement with @ElonMusk.” Part of what made the tweet so noteworthy was that Agrawal had not made a post via his account since April 10.
Agrawal’s previous tweet had declared that “Elon has decided not to join our board.” Agrawal at the time also warned his employees in a brief memo: “There will be distractions ahead, but our goals and priorities remain unchanged. The decisions we make and how we execute is in our hands, no one else’s. Let’s tune out the noise, and stay focused on the work and what we’re building.
Taylor’s announcement linked to a press release about the platform’s agreement with Musk. Taylor was quoted in the article as saying: “The Twitter Board undertook a thorough and extensive process to evaluate Elon’s proposal, with a deliberate emphasis on value, certainty and financing. It will bring a large cash premium to Twitter, which we consider the best option for its stockholders.
Musk was quoted in the release as saying, “Free speech, the foundation of any functioning democracy is essential, and Twitter is where vital issues for the future of mankind are discussed.” He also noted that “I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”
Agrawal’s acknowledgement of Musk’s victory was critical because of Agarawal’s past statements indicating he would steer Twitter toward more censorship. In a Nov. 18, 2020, interview with MIT Technology Review Editor-in-Chief Gideon Lichfield, Twitter’s then-Chief Technology Officer Agrawal was asked how Twitter could both censor so-called misinformation from its platform and still allow free speech. “Our role is not to be bound by the First Amendment, but our role is to serve a healthy public conversation.”
Musk, however, had a totally different vision when he tweeted April 25: “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.”
Reporter at the Verge Alex Heath announced in a tweet that an upcoming event will give further insight on Twitter’s future: “Twitter’s @paraga and @btaylor will host an all hands for employees at 2pm Pacific today to address the news, per internal memo. ‘I know this is a significant change and you’re likely processing what this means for you and Twitter’s future,’ Parag writes.
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This post was last modified on April 25, 2022 3:57 pm
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