In response to a rhetorical question asked by billionaire Elon Musk, his online followers have asked him to either acquire Twitter or build a social media platform. Expressing fear that the microblogging platform was hindering free speech, Musk had asked what should be done over Twitter before his 79.1 million Twitter offered the advice.
“Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy,” Musk tweeted on Saturday. “What should be done?”
And then in a follow-up post, the billionaire had asked, “Is a new platform needed?”
Within one hour of posting his tweet, it was liked more than 62,000 times and retweeted more than 10,000 times. Some of the most prominent respondents were press secretary for Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, Christina Pushaw; former CIA analyst and conservative radio host, Buck Sexton; and radio host Jason Rantz among others.
The followers asked Musk to buy Twitter to break the power of “these psycho Silicon Valley libs” and to give room for free speech. If the Tesla co-founder and SpaceX CEO goes ahead to establish his own social media platform, he wouldn’t be the first billionaire to do so after frustration with mainstream online networks; former President Donald Trump did the same by launching Truth Social in February.
Trump launched Truth Social as part of Trump Media and Technology Group after Twitter banned him in January 2021 and Facebook and Instagram suspended him. Other social media platforms that also came into existence on account of the restrictions by major platforms include Rumble, Parler, and Getty. But will Musk move forward with his question? That remains to be seen.