Ecstasy between the conservatives from the United States, alert between the progressives. In a country where the radical polarization has been embedded in the political and social DNA, the news of the deal to buy Twitter by Elon Musk has provoked opposite reactions. Much of this antagonistic response is linked to the potential political impact that the changes that the billionaire has outlined very briefly for the social network may have, especially when the US approaches some legislative elections in November and, with the presidential on the horizon of 2024the memory of the impact that the platforms already had in the previous elections is still very much alive.
The acquisition of Twitter by the businessman with libertarian tendencies but with his idiosyncrasies and his opaque political opinions does not move in binary left right however, it is seen in conservative political and media ecosystem as a symbolic and cathartic blow to ‘Big Tech’. Musk’s message on Monday assuring that “the freedom of expression is the foundation of a functional democracy” has been received by these conservatives as a vindication of what has been their recurring criticism to the big technology companies: that they lean to the left and censor their voices.
Meanwhile, experts in social networks warn that dismantle the efforts that the platform has made so far for regulate harmful content could unleash a new wave of misinformation and online harassment. This is what the author and commentator Anand Giridharadas has written in an opinion article in ‘The New York Times’, who warns that “at a time of protofascism of the political right, their priority seems to be to open the floodgates to flood of bile, hate, bullying and misinformation”. And this is what Angelo Carusone, president of Media Matters, told the ‘Financial Times’: “We’ve seen where that took us before. Does most likely another January 6”.
The return of Trump?
Two days after the assault on Capitol Hill, Donald Trump’s Twitter account was suspended and now one of the big questions is whether To return to. Few give much credence to the former president’s statement on Monday that he has no intention of doing so even if he were allowed and will continue on Truth, his own conservative platform.
Trump, however, has been complaining about the lack of impact of that network, where you have a 1% of followers that accumulated on Twitter. His platform, like others born in the conservative spectrum and more successful like Gettr and Parler, it could see its business shrink even further if Twitter wins back favor with conservative users. Furthermore, as Kara Swisher, a Times technology specialist, has written, “it is hard to imagine Trumpism, as it is understood today, without Twitter, or Twitter without Trumpism, veto or not,” and if the former president decided to return to the race for the White House Trumpism would be Trump.
the culture wars
Conservative ecstasy with the purchase is also understandable because Musk’s speech defining a “broadly inclusive” platform as “extremely important to the future of civilization” squares with a fundamental element for the republicans to stoke the culture wars that they are making head offices in the face of the next appointments with the polls. Just Monday, for example, Tucker Carlson, FoxNews’ most influential anchor, announced his return to the networkfrom which he was suspended for endorsing tweets that insulted Dr. Rachel Levine, a woman transgender that Joe Biden elevated to number two from the Department of Health.
Senator Ted Cruz responded to the news by raising a poll on Twitter where the only options to assess Musk’s purchase of the network were “yes” or “no, I hate freedom of expression.” And Congresswoman Jody Hice posted a message in all caps: “Welcome back, first amendment!”. Hyce is a candidate for Secretary of State in Georgia and has promised if she gets to the position rescind legal results of the 2020 elections in which Trump was defeated.
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There are also those who question that the impact of Twitter is so decisive as to mark the results of the elections, with or without Musk. Although the social network has a determining role in setting agenda and narratives and it is populated by opinion makers only 23% of Americans use it and less than half of them do it every day. are users younger, more educated and more progressive than the majority of the population, according to analysis by the Pew Center Data Lab.
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Eddie is an Australian news reporter with over 9 years in the industry and has published on Forbes and tech crunch.