Some raise hate-speech concerns over Musk's purchase of Twitter

Elon Musk, the richest person in the world and the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has described himself as a "free speech absolutist" and has made it clear he supports more unbridled expression on Twitter.

Now some Americans are raising concerns about hate speech after Musk clinched a $44 billion deal Monday to buy Twitter — perhaps the world's most influential social media platform — and take it private.

Musk, 50, has been critical of Twitter's policies of moderating content and has said the social media giant should become a genuine forum for free speech.

"Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated," Musk said in a statement.

Some observers aren't so sure whether Musk is ready to welcome back users banned by Twitter but are concerned the platform could see an increase in disinformation and harassment.

Barrett Newkirk, a former journalist, said he cut back on his Twitter use because he doesn't find it that productive. He said the company probably should provide more oversight about banning accounts and blocking or removing hateful or offensive tweets than it has been.

"It's like they should be moving more in that direction," Newkirk told China Daily. "I will admit that I haven't been using it as much as I did at one time, and I think maybe they've taken some steps to enhance their oversight, but my sense has always been that they should be doing more, not less."

August Kolb, a student at New York University, told China Daily: "There is a lot of leeway for hate speech to be placed on the app and a lot of information [is] being spread very, very rapidly. So I think Twitter's trying to curb that; it's not a wrong direction to go in, especially because, you know, the people who run the app, it's their app. If they want no misinformation, they can do that.

"And I think that Elon is throwing a little bit of a very money-induced temper tantrum, that he wants to say what he wants to say," Kolb continued.

"I think that a lot of users might leave the app and look for other applications. I think that his response to it is that like he wasn't getting his way with Twitter, so he wanted to step in and pull the strings more. And I think that that's getting into a territory that I think is not a good zone to be in," Kolb said.

Meanwhile, American conservatives cheered the prospect of fewer controls.

"It finally feels like someone is standing up for a principle that has been going in an opposite direction lately: less free speech, less ability to express yourself — if you are a conservative, said US Representative Bill Huizenga, a Michigan Republican.

"Twitter is a platform that I and many others believe has been more aggressive in blocking Republicans and conservatives than they have toward people on the left," said US Representative Austin Scott, a Georgia Republican. "I'm hoping and expecting he (Musk) will undo that."

Several LGBTQ+ Twitter users on Monday said they were considering leaving the platform over concerns that Musk would replatform accounts suspended for violating Twitter rules against hate speech, The Hill reported.

"A big concern on Twitter and social media is regulating hate speech, and Musk seems to be approaching it with the intent of opening up and deregulating some of them in the guise of free speech," Newkirk said. "But when you have like our former president (Donald Trump) and his followers and other people who go on there and just rile people up, it creates a really bad and toxic atmosphere."

While social media companies have their own content-moderation policies, the US Supreme Court has consistently ruled that so-called hate speech is protected under the First Amendment of the Constitution.

Jane, a New York City resident who wanted to give only her first name, told China Daily: "It's obvious not going to be like all positive or all negative, but I do think that people should be able to say whatever they want, and like most, most of the social media keep you really sheltered, and they'll like have like a very narrow algorithm, and everything will get taken off.

"So I think it's going to be a good opportunity for people to actually say what they want. And also, people know that … Twitter is going to be a place for like more diversity and more people on it," she said.

A survey of 170 Twitter employees by Blind, an anonymous workplace-review app, found that 51 percent were worried about Musk acquiring Twitter.

In another survey, one posted by nearly 200 Twitter employees on Blind, 44 percent said they were neutral on Musk; 27 percent said they loved him; 27 percent said they hated him.