Apar Gupta writes: As Elon Musk takes over Twitter, a note of caution

His stated vision for the platform includes advancing free speech, reducing political tribalism. But it will require patience for nuance and experienced staff to apply the principles of free expression which, in many instances, are complex determinations.

Twitter has a narrow, metropolitan base in India estimated at around 24 million users. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo)

Written by: Apar Gupta

5 min readOct 28, 2022 05:33 PM IST First published on: Oct 28, 2022 at 05:23 PM IST

Elon Musk now owns Twitter. His takeover, expected to close this week, started with a public statement of intent titled a “message to advertisers”. Published yesterday it provides some insight into his motivations where he states his ownership is not to be driven by monetary gain but, “to try to help humanity”. He acknowledges this is an ambitious goal to be solved by Twitter becoming “a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner.” Coming against the backdrop of Twitter’s well-documented challenges in achieving user and revenue growth, or a clear product vision, this change seems refreshing to optimistic commentators. But what might such an ownership change mean for Indian users, or the local media ecology?

Twitter has a narrow, metropolitan base in India estimated at around 24 million users. If one were to believe Musk, many of these accounts are spam or inauthentic whereby a single person or entity may have signed up for several if not hundreds of them. However, due to the profile of authentic user accounts that are used by public officials and celebrities, this extremely small and elite number wields a disproportionate cultural and social influence. Twitter also acts as a public medium of choice for diplomatic engagement, narrative-setting by politicians and statements by technology companies. Hence, an ownership change which is accompanied by a transformation of Twitter’s mission will have a significant impact within India. Here, the first important factor to consider is the structure of Twitter Inc, which will go from being a publicly traded company to one that is privately owned. This will increase power at the board level and, given Musk’s ownership stake, will enable nimbler decision making. For optimists, this means he can radically change the experience on the platform without concern for a quarterly earnings report. It may mean a clean-up of the bots and spam that proliferate on Twitter without check which may be difficult for a publicly traded, social media company to audit and remove as it may show a decrease in user engagement. However, a more pragmatic assessment will hold that the financial sustainability of Twitter will be a factor in the product arithmetic as the “message to advertisers” notes that it wants to be the “most respected advertising platform”.

This prompts the question: What exactly is Musk’s grand vision for Twitter? Parts of this can be gathered from the numerous public statements that are contained within his tweets, press interviews and even court filings. He seems to be concerned with advancing free speech, reducing political tribalism and offering greater user choice. These grand ambitions not only for Twitter but for social media are welcome, as a reboot is indeed required. But how can these goals be realised? Are they merely idyllic visions? As Suzanne Nossel, CEO of Pen America, has written, “Musk will learn the hard way that there is no return to a mythic online Eden where all forms of speech flourish in miraculous harmony.” It will require patience for nuance and experienced staff to apply the principles of free expression which, in many instances, are complex determinations. Here, there is significant cynicism that surfaces as Musk may adopt a product- rather than policy-based execution strategy that is evident with a visit by Tesla engineers to Twitter to audit its code and the dismissal of senior legal and policy staff.

For many free speech advocates in India, there is already reason for concern. Twitter is at present challenging the Union government before the High Court of Karnataka on the lack of transparency and proportionality in blocking orders. These orders are secretive and prevent the impacted users from availing natural justice such as the opportunity of a hearing to lead their defence. As per Musk’s legal filings in the Chancery Court in Delaware, he asserts that Twitter’s “decision to challenge the Indian government’s decisions is a departure from the ordinary course. And while the Musk Parties support free speech, they believe Twitter should follow the laws of the countries in which they operate.” This may mark a significant deviation where Twitter will now accede to government demands no matter how egregious they are constitutionally or contradictory to a business and human rights framework.

One only hopes that this statement may amount to legal posturing and through operational experience, Musk may count on the complexity of legal compliance that is posed in jurisdictions such as India. At points such as this, we should also pause to consider the wider question of how much trust and responsibility we place in an individual who owns a private social media platform to influence our media ecology. Here, social media platforms may be better suited to being independent cafes or chai tapris rather than the “digital town square”.

However, at present, as Musk takes over, I join many early adopters of the platform to signal caution while sharing the aspiration for better, healthier online discussions.

The writer is an advocate and executive director, Internet Freedom Foundation, Delhi