In pics: Who said what about Twitter's new ownership

"Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated. I also want to make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans. Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it,” Musk said in his first tweet after acquiring Twitter.

Soon after Elon Musk took over Twitter for $44 billion, social media platform’s co-founder and former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said in a thread that the platform is the closest thing to “global consciousness”. He also noted that Twitter has been his biggest regret as a company since it has been owned by the Wall Street and the ad model.

Dorsey noted that taking Twitter back from Wall Street is the first step in the right direction. He furthermore said, “In principle, I don’t believe anyone should own or run Twitter. It wants to be a public good at a protocol level, not a company. Solving for the problem of it being a company however, Elon is the singular solution I trust. I trust his mission to extend the light of consciousness.”

Dorsey further explained that Musk and current CEO Parag Agrawal’s goal is to create a platform which is “maximally trusted and bradly inclusive” is correct. He thanked both of them for getting Twitter “out of an impossible situation.”

He signed off by saying that he’s happy to see that Twitter “will continue to serve the public conversation. Around the world, and into the stars!”

Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal told his employees that the future of the platform is uncertain. "Once the deal closes, we don't know which direction the platform will go. I believe when we have an opportunity to speak with Elon, it's a question we should address with him,” he said at a company-wide town hall meeting. He said that there were no plans for layoff.

Furthermore, Agrawal said in a separate tweet: "Twitter has a purpose and relevance that impacts the entire world. Deeply proud of our teams and inspired by the work that has never been more important."

Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos, while quoting a news report questioning the connection between Twitter and China, tweeted “Interesting question. Did the Chinese government just gain a bit of leverage over the town square?”

Bezos further added, “My own answer to this question is probably not. The more likely outcome in this regard is complexity in China for Tesla, rather than censorship at Twitter.”

Bezos, in the same thread nearly 90 minutes later, said that “Musk is extremely good at navigating this kind of complexity.”

Former President Donald Trump said that he has no intention of rejoining Twitter even if his account is reinstated. “I hope Elon buys Twitter because he’ll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on Truth,” said Trump.

Trump also said that he will instead focus on his own platform, Truth Social, which has been mired in problems since its launch earlier this year. Trump was barred from major social media platforms after the deadly Jan. 6 insurrection, with Twitter citing the “risk of further incitement of violence."

Bret Taylor, Twitter's Independent Board Chair, said, “The Twitter Board conducted a thoughtful and comprehensive process to assess Elon's proposal with a deliberate focus on value, certainty, and financing. The proposed transaction will deliver a substantial cash premium, and we believe it is the best path forward for Twitter's stockholders.”

White House spokesperson Jen Psaki, said, “Our concerns are not new," adding that the platforms need to be held accountable. "The president has long talked about his concerns about the power of social media platforms, including Twitter and others, to spread misinformation.”

The White House had also revealed that the US President Joe Biden has long been concerned about the power of social media platforms.

Chairman of Mahindra Group Anand Mahindra, started a poll on Twitter and asked his followers if they support or don’t support Elon Musk's promise of less regulation of opinions & speech on Twitter.

As of now, the post has received over 80 per cent support.