Tesla CEO Elon Musk has officially acquired the social media platform Twitter leaving Kingston students pondering what’s to come.
Musk purchased the company for a rumoured 44 billion US Dollars to “help humanity”.
Musk said: “The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence. ”
Musk vowed to reinstate free speech after strongly condemning the ban put on former usa president Donald Trump, despite not agreeing with his views.
But Musk himself said: “There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far right wing and far left wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society.”
Many Kingston University students use the platform to express themselves via tweets and the University itself uses the platform to promote various events and topics.
KU student, Huda Abdullah, said this: “I think it kind of contradicts itself as there is no limit to what could be posted and that in turn can incite violence.”
Fans of Trump and controversial figures such as Andrew Tate and Alex jones are licking their lips at the prospect of having their idols unbanned.
When asked about the possibility of them being unbanned, KU student Aya Hatem said: “No, I disagree people are banned for a reason, and he needs to accept it.”
Musk previously tried to pull out of the deal to buy Twitter back in July, however after the company sued, he had a change of heart.
He announced his U-turn on Friday with the caption “Entering twitter H-Q let that sink in”, accompanied by a video of himself walking into the twitter headquarters holding a sink.
Musk took no time in asserting his dominance reportedly firing several members of staff, including CEO Parag Agrawal.
Vijaya Gadde the head of legal policy, trust and safety was also let go and is believed to be responsible for the Trump ban.
The social media platform has been shaken to its core in what has been a turbulent last few months, with its future yet to be clear.
Alice E Rickman
Jade Oates
Shaunelle Harrydass-Clark