There’s never a dull moment in the life of Elon Musk, who took control of Twitter last week and continues to redefine the social media giant..On Monday, Musk cleared out the company’s entire board of directors, making himself the sole director and CEO, just another of the changes he already instituted with, no doubt, more to come..Musk was also asked whether Donald Trump will be able to return to the platform, taking to Twitter on Monday, writing, “If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me if Trump is coming back on this platform, Twitter would be minting money!”.In the lead up to buying Twitter, Musk said he would reinstate Trump, although the latter said in the past he would never return..Trump was kicked off Twitter, at the time his preferred method of communicating to the masses, in the wake of the events at the US Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021..He now runs his own social media hub, Truth Social..About Musk’s takeover, Trump said Friday he’s glad Twitter is in Musk’s hands.. U.S. President Donald TrumpOfficial portrait of President Donald J. Trump, Friday, October 6, 2017. (Official White House photo by Shealah Craighead) Courtesy of Wikipedia .“I am very happy that Twitter is now in ‘sane hands’ and will no longer be run by Radical Left Lunatics and Maniacs that truly hate our country,” Trump wrote in his Truth Social post..There could be financial ramifications for Twitter if Trump is allowed back on..The Wall Street Journal reported last week several top brands were prepared to cut ties with Twitter if Musk followed through on his intent to allow Trump back onto the site..In a tweet last week, Musk, appeared to be mindful of what an advertiser exodus might mean for Twitter’s bottom line, and said he would not allow Twitter to descend into a “free-for-all-hellscape.”.Musk plans to loosen restrictions on hate speech and misinformation and make Twitter a haven of "free speech," he has said. .A number of well-known celebrities and athletes, including basketball superstar LeBron James, expressed concerns about what they see as a proliferation of hate speech and racial slurs..Those concerns addressed Musk’s concerns, prior to closing the Twitter deal, that the number of legitimate users on Twitter was overstated by the board of directors..Musk referred James to a thread by Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of safety and integrity..“Over the last 48 hours, we’ve seen a small number of accounts post a ton of Tweets that include slurs and other derogatory terms,” Roth tweeted Saturday. “To give you a sense of scale: More than 50,000 Tweets repeatedly using a particular slur came from just 300 accounts.”.“Nearly all these accounts are inauthentic. We’ve taken action to ban the users involved in this trolling campaign and are going to continue working to address this in the days to come to make Twitter safe and welcoming for everyone.”.Last week Musk said, “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.”.Bloomberg reported Musk has frozen employee access to internal tools used to regulate content, preventing moderators from being able to censor so-called “misinformation” ahead the November midterm elections..Musk also dangled the idea of increasing the cost of verification — which proves the Twitter user is who she/he claims to be — to about US$20 per month..“The whole verification process is being revamped right now,” he tweeted..A banker familiar with Twitter’s thinking told The New York Post charging for verification is the easiest way for the company to quickly make a profit, arguing most users who have spent years building their Twitter profile and online brand, will likely pay the new fee..Or not, says Jason Calacanis, a venture capitalist who’s advising Musk..In a test of Twitter users’ attitudes toward the potential fee, Calacanis conducted a Twitter poll late Sunday asking if users would be willing to pay for Twitter verification and the coveted blue check mark. .More than 81% of respondents said they wouldn’t pay for the perk. .In response to Calacanis’ poll, Musk wrote: “Interesting.”.Next on the Musk menu is reviewing Twitter staff. .His inner circle worked over the weekend on plans to lay off about 25% of the social media company's workforce, The Washington Post reported.
