Media Talks Musk denies Twitter is bankrupt, while NGO seeks to buy network through ‘club of democracies’ 26/12/2022 10:37 PM

London – In an interview with the All-In podcast on Christmas Eve, Elon Musk tried to reverse the negative news about Twitter’s financial health, warning that the platform is not yet secure, but is no longer on the verge of bankruptcy. He had suggested it weeks ago.

But not everyone believes this, and Reporters Without Borders (RSF) took advantage of Musk’s statements and presented a bold proposal for the crisis on the platform: a buyout by what he called a “club of democracies”, backed and financed by countries. and organizations including the European Union.

“Twitter may be interested in discussing this possibility now that it seems like it has become a hot potato for Musk, who fears the company will go bankrupt,” RSF nudged.

For the press freedom advocacy organization, “ Elon Musk’s hasty and arbitrary behavior as head of Twitter jeopardizes a central platform for access to information and discussion, and above all democratic principles.”

Musk says Twitter bankruptcy is even further away

Musk remained silent for almost a day as he promised to respect any outcome after he was defeated in a poll he conducted at the top of Twitter to find out if he should continue.

His way out was to let them know he was leaving as soon as he thought he was “stupid enough” to accept the CEO position. And he signaled that he would continue to be responsible for engineering.

Musk didn’t tweet directly about Twitter’s finances, but the technology did make what he said on the All-In podcast more visible, in a comment to YouTuber Farzad Mesbahi’s tweet.

Twitter isn’t safe yet, it’s just not on the road to bankruptcy. There’s still a lot of work to be done.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) 25 December 2022

At the All-In, Musk commented on the controversial suspension of journalists, which was reversed. He continues to claim that the block was due to the act of giving information (publishing news about a person’s location).

But journalists and organizations protested over the fact that those who were suspended had published reports that the @ElonJet account, which actually broadcast the businessman’s jet voyages, had been deleted. And they were all critical of his administration.

Also read | After polling and condemnation by the EU, Musk restores suspended journalists’ accounts from Twitter

Reporters Without Borders is one of the press freedom organizations that has warned of the risks of managing Twitter by Elon Musk, who promised more freedom of expression on the platform.

Organizations monitoring social networks are proving that racism and hate speech are on the rise, while harmful or illegal content declines.

ambitious offer

Now RSF is going beyond complaints with a proposal it’s considering. more ambitious and more advantageous to the public interest.

A group of democracies can take a majority stake in Twitter, or at least be large enough to block certain measures.

Another alternative would be to create an international social media organization that will own Twitter.

In the first case, the shareholders agreement guarantees democratic governance. In the latter case, the statutes would provide safeguards to prevent any political interference.

“The post-Musk era must be one where social media serves the public good,” said RSF Secretary-General Christophe Deloire, who advocates protecting Twitter against “arbitrary or inappropriate interference.”

“Both government and private sector organizations can of course serve the public interest.

In terms of freedom of thought and expression, such service should be administered according to democratic principles without the risk of arbitrariness or undue interference.

The speed with which this billionaire is undermining Twitter should prompt democracies to respond more quickly and to fund the takeover of the social media platform to put freedom of opinion and expression, including the right to information, at the service.”

According to RSF’s recommendation, aFunded by international contributions, the foundation’s mission is to promote the emergence of social media that is democratic, respects human rights and provides access to reliable information:

“Independence will be guaranteed and independent authorities will take place in the supervisory board.

HE IS The aim will be to ensure that communication technologies such as social media serve the public good.”

The European Union, which was fierce when the journalists’ accounts were closed, was cited by Reporters Without Borders as an “important component of the initiative”, whatever its form.

the idea is that The EU itself or some of its member states are investing with other democratic countries “including the United States of course”.

The organization likened the idea to bringing together leading democracies to respond to systemic risks in the banking system:

“In this case, there is a systemic risk to the online public sphere and even democracy.”

Elon Musk’s ‘public relations demonstrations’ for RSF showed how quickly the online communication and information space can deteriorate:

“These technologies are essential for the flow of information and therefore cannot be subject to the whims, ideologies, or commercial interests of individual owners.”

In its most recent poll on December 23, the owner of Twitter asked users if they wanted a new post view counter on the right or left of the screen.

Moving right wins. And again he did not miss the opportunity to make a provocation, “So you prefer the truth?”, followed by laughter.

So you’re saying you prefer the right one? heheh

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) 23 December 2022

Also read | Poll defeat, battle against rivals and more to stay CEO: Latest from Musk on Twitter