Elon Musk says Twitter 'may see slight cost for commercial/government users'
Musk said that Twitter 'will always be free for casual users'
Elon Musk Twitter takeover 'good for everyone': Tech expert
Competitive Enterprise Institute's Jessica Melugin says Musk's free-speech policy is a net benefit for social media users.
Companies and government accounts on Twitter may have to pay a slight fee to stay on the social media platform in the future, but the service will always be free for "casual users," Tesla CEO Elon Musk, whose $44 billion bid for Twitter was accepted last week, tweeted on Tuesday evening.
The tweet was in reply to a cryptic message he sent earlier in the day that said "the downfall of the Freemasons was giving away their stonecutting services for nothing."
Musk pitched a variety of ideas to banks last week to get help with his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, including monetizing certain viral tweets and cutting salaries for the board, Reuters reported.
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Twitter rolled out a premium subscription service, Twitter Blue, for $2.99 a month last year, but Musk suggested in a since-deleted tweet last month that he wants to cut that price.
CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk speaks at the Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing "Cyber Rodeo" grand opening party in Austin, Texas, on April 7, 2022. (SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)
While Musk is sure to get creative in figuring out how to monetize Twitter after taking it private, he's been clear that his main motivation for purchasing the social media platform is to make it less censorious.
"I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy," Musk said in an SEC filing.
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Shareholders and regulators still have to approve Musk's Twitter takeover before it will go through.