Why is Elon Musk buying Twitter?

Roland Lindner

Business correspondent in New York.

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Apparently not primarily because he thinks Twitter is an attractive investment.

The CEO of electric car maker Tesla and aerospace company SpaceX has said it's not about the money.

He has described his attempted takeover as a kind of campaign for free speech.

He accuses Twitter of excessive censorship of content and has suggested that this will change under him.

Is the accusation of censorship justified?

Twitter once had claims similar to those now made by Musk, even describing itself as "the free speech wing of the free speech party."

But with an increasing amount of controversial and toxic content, Twitter - like Facebook and other platforms - has been forced to adopt more and stricter moderation.

This also includes sanctions against individual users, such as the ejection of Donald Trump.

Twitter now has an extensive set of rules that prohibits, for example, hate speech, the glorification of violence or the targeted intimidation of other users.

Will Musk Break Trump's Suspension?

So far he hasn't said anything specific.

Measured by the philosophy he represents, however, it would be obvious.

The question would become more urgent if Trump ran for president again.

Trump himself has now said he doesn't want to go back to Twitter, even though it was once his preferred mouthpiece.

Many observers are convinced that he would like to use Twitter again.

His own platform, Truth Social, is struggling with teething problems, and Trump has hardly published any entries here himself.

How are politicians reacting?

With his statements about free speech, Musk strikes similar tones as representatives of the Republican Party, who accuse Twitter and other services of suppressing conservative positions.

In this respect, the reactions of the Republicans were rather positive.

"Free speech is making a comeback," tweeted Jim Jordan of the House of Representatives.

Prominent and far-right TV host Tucker Carlson has called Musk "our last hope."

In contrast, Senator Elizabeth Warren of the Democrats said the takeover was "dangerous to our democracy".

Where does Musk himself stand politically?

Even if he's getting applause from Republicans right now, he's not that easy to classify politically.

He is often described as a libertarian who advocates as much individual freedom as possible and as little state influence as possible.

He himself said that he was not conservative but politically moderate.

He often reflects on positions that are currently represented in the conservative camp, for example with criticism of corona restrictions, an anti-union attitude or when he complains about "wokeness".

On the other hand, especially in the Trump era, he explicitly opposed Republican policies, for example on immigration or climate issues.

How would Musk change the rules?