Elon Musk would do a 'ton' better at making Twitter pro-free speech, leftists are 'terrified' of that: expert
Expert says leftists are 'terrified' at Twitter becoming more pro-free speech
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A free speech advocate says that Tesla CEO Elon Musk would do a "ton" better at making Twitter a pro-free speech platform and says that leftists are "terrified" at that thought.
After disclosing that he had bought a significant stake in Twitter, Musk surprised the world on Thursday after tweeting that he made an offer to buy Twitter.
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Elon Musk gestures as he speaks during a press conference at SpaceX's Starbase facility near Boca Chica Village in South Texas on February 10, 2022. (Photo by Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
He offered to pay $54.20 per share for 100% of Twitter, adding that he'd reconsider his position as a shareholder if the offer is not accepted.
In the filing, he wrote that he wants to "transform" Twitter as a private company.
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Dan Gainor, vice president of Free Speech America and Business at the Media Research Center told FOX Business that Musk would do much better at promoting free speech on the platform than the current leadership, and that makes some on the left nervous.
"Given the chance, I think Musk would do a ton better than the current leadership. That's not just my view, look at all the leftists who are terrified Twitter might allow free speech," Gainor said.
Elon Musk's Tweet displayed on a screen and Twitter logo. (Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images / Getty Images)
Gainor said that it's hard for anyone to think that Musk will turn Twitter into something worse than it currently is, stating that the social media giant is no longer the free speech platform it used to be.
"The people who run Twitter and frankly, one of the other social media sites, use censorship not just to try to make what they claim is to make things better for users, they use it to enforce political speech," Gainor said.
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(Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images / Getty Images)
He says that the backlash from CNN commentators and Washington Post columnists, for example, is a signal that they don't want the platform to change from what it currently is, which censors conservatives.
"They don't want that to change because they think that's how they win," Gainor said.
Gainor also gave a prediction, and said that the situation will wind up in court, since "all corporations are mandated to act in the best interest of their shareholders."
The Twitter board of directors responded to Musk's offer on Friday morning, taking a so-called "poison pill," in which the shareholders' rights would become exercisable if any entity takes beneficial ownership of 15% or more of Twitter's common stock in a transaction that is not approved by the board.
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If these rights become exercisable, Twitter shareholders can purchase additional shares of a common stock at a discounted rate, except for the entity or person who triggered the plan.
FOX Business' Lucas Manfredi contributed to this report.