Elon musk twitter

A lot has happened since Elon Musk completed his acquisition of Twitter last month — layoffs of thousands of employees, firings of engineers critical of him and an impersonation of an official Eli Lilly account that caused the pharmaceutical company's stock to drop. It's all part of the chaotic saga that began this spring, when Musk first put in motion a plan to take control of the social media platform. Here’s a complete timeline of what’s happened so far. April 2022 On April 5, Musk discloses he has purchased more than 9% of Twitter's shares on the open market. At first, he is offered a board seat. That plan quickly falls through — and Twitter Musk subsequently "Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it," he adds. Musk says he would fund the deal By April 25, “The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon’s proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing,” Twitter’s Independent Board Chair Bret Taylor says in a statement. “The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter’s stockholders.” People walk outside Twitter headquarters in San Francisco on Nov. 4. Jeff Chiu / AP file May - June 2022 On May 13, Musk tweets he is putting the deal to acquire Twitter "temporarily on hold" pending additional information about the volume of fake and spam accounts on the platform. That's despite regular disclosures by Twitter stretching back years f...

Twitter CEO Elon Musk speaks at the "Twitter 2.0: From Conversations to Partnerships" marketing conference in Miami Beach, Fla., in April. Chandan Khanna/AFP via Getty Images Elon Musk has threatened to reassign NPR's Twitter account to "another company." In a series of emails sent to this reporter, Musk said he would transfer the network's main account on Twitter, under the @NPR handle, to another organization or person. The idea shocked even longtime observers of Musk's spur-of-the-moment and erratic leadership style. Handing over established accounts to third parties poses a serious risk of impersonation and could imperil a company's reputation, said social media experts. "If this is a sign of things to come on Twitter, we might soon see even more of a rapid retreat by media organizations and other brands that don't think it's worth the risk," said Emily Bell, a professor at Columbia Journalism School who studies social media. "It's really an extraordinary threat to make." Last month, NPR Musk: "should we reassign @NPR to another company?" In an unprompted Tuesday email, Musk wrote: "So is NPR going to start posting on Twitter again, or should we reassign @NPR to another company?" Under Twitter's Those rules state that an account must be logged into at least every 30 days, and that "prolonged inactivity" can result in it being permanently removed. Musk did not answer when asked whether he planned to change the platform's definition of inactivity and he declined to say w...

Though it feels reductionist to compare Over the past few weeks, tech observers and Twitter obsessives like myself have been following every twist and turn that will ultimately decide the fate of the platform. Musk’s Twitter takeover is like so many things in American life in 2022: It is both dumb and consequential. Twitter, despite its relatively small size, has disproportionate importance in our politics and culture. It’s used by activists and dissidents, and what happens on Twitter does not stay contained to the internet. Moreover, Twitter’s fate is wrapped up in the identity of the world’s richest man, whose I hope, for your sake, that you lead a richer, more spiritually fulfilling life than I do and that the hour-by-hour machinations of Elon Musk’s Twitter account are merely a vague curiosity. But for those who want to catch up on this strange internet drama, here’s a tweet sheet to get up to speed. October 27: The Bird Is Freed the bird is freed — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) On October 27, Musk finalized his Twitter purchase. Though that wasn’t even two weeks ago, we were all spiritually 47 years younger when the billionaire implied that he was going to liberate the service from censorship and let free speech reign. October 28: Time to Form an Independent Committee Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints. No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) Every o...

After weeks of speculation, Twitter and Elon Musk announced Monday that the billionaire would commit $44 billion to purchase the social media platform. Musk’s purchase of Twitter comes as the company finds itself treading a narrow path between enabling speech and policing dangerous content ranging from COVID-19 misinformation to harassment to posts inciting political violence. Musk is a self-described “free-speech absolutist,” leading to speculation about what changes he would bring as the now private owner of the company, which had previously been a public company held by shareholders. READ MORE: Twitter has a misinformation problem. Here’s how Elon Musk’s plans for the platform could make it worse While Twitter’s active user base of 330 million, falls far short of rivals Facebook and TikTok, it does have influence that goes beyond its numbers. Politicians, journalists, activists and intellectuals are particularly active on the site, which means it has an outsized influence on public debate and the media. The PBS NewsHour spoke to three experts in the fields of social media, communications and democracy about Musk’s purchase of Twitter. The conversations have been lightly edited for clarity. What would Musk’s taking over of Twitter mean for the platform? Evan Greer, Director, Fight for the Future: “I think no one really knows the answer to that question, including Musk himself. Yeah, he’s not an expert in content moderation, and I think he will very quickly learn that it ...