Memelord Elon Musk’s Twitter rodeo could set a trend

Chennai: Elon Musk snagging a board seat at Twitter could set a “precedent for a new kind of activism” aimed at steering the “product and to some extent, the management” of the company and not its financial direction, according to multiple investors and policy experts.

Days after the iconic entrepreneur bought a 9.2% stake in the microblogging platform, technology analysts told ET that they expect Musk is looking to “democratise communication the way he democratised the space sector with SpaceX," while terming the move as “unprecedented”.

OnThursday, Musk tweeted a meme with the caption - "Twitter's next board meeting is gonna be lit" with a picture of himself.


"His ( Musk’s ) business interests have been to democratise technologies and platforms; it is no different with Twitter. He is looking to reach out to the masses to effectively create a people-led media platform where a lot of biases can be eliminated," said technology analyst and consultant Faisal Kawoosa.

For sure, the extent of influence that the Tesla and SpaceX founder will wield on the Twitter board is still unclear. However, if his recent tweets-- including one on Tuesday with a poll on whether to add an edit button on the platform is anything to go by-- Musk is “not looking to be a passive member,” privacy experts pointed out.

The maverick founder’s moves could lead to more instances of people picking up stakes in companies that they will look to influence ideologically, they added.

Twitter India declined to comment on ET’s queries about the developments.

Impact on Twitter India
Musk's stance on “ free speech” could also have ripple effects on the San Francisco company’s Indian operations according to privacy activists.

Cyber policy expert Prasanto K Roy said, “Twitter has tried hard to comply with the Indian government and its ruling party more than other platforms by removing tweets based on filters, removing handles and so on apart from compliance to the new rules which require statutory appointments of officials.” Twitter’s future prospects in the country, he added, “ will depend on increased compliance-- at the cost of free speech and less moderation of hate speech-- things that could clash with a "free speech absolutist."

Musk who described himself as a free speech absolutist on March 5 tweeted: "Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy. What should be done?" on March 26 and even quizzed his followers as to whether a new platform was needed.

Days after, news broke of him joining the Board of Twitter.

Executives at other social media platforms, however, expect that Musk's board seat will have little impact on Twitter’s Indian operations. “Even if Twitter does make any changes to its policies, India's laws are still there. Even if Twitter says we allow casteist or racial slurs, the Indian law doesn't allow it. A user won't be going to Twitter jail but Tihar jail!" a senior executiveof a global social media platform said on condition of anonymity.

Minimal influence, for now
Legal experts are of the view that Musk’s influence on Twitter, at present, may be minimal as he is a minority stake holder. As per a filing on Nasdaq, Musk is the largest individual shareholder of Twitter.

“But, in the long run if he's able to acquire a substantial stake in Twitter, then maybe he could have some influence on the policies, especially with regard to free speech and how Twitter's free speech policies are implemented in different countries," said Salman Waris, partner head of TMT (telecom, media and technology) and IP practice at TechLegis.

Deepak Gupta, General Partner at WEH Ventures said. "Activism is generally done by financial investors and their only goal is to make money. In his case, he's doing it to influence the company.”