Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Chetan Bhagat hope for positive, safe Twitter after Elon Musk’s take over 

Elon Musk’s takeover of the US-based microblogging platform Twitter is a reason to be hopeful, if you ask Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma and author of 'Two States' and 'Half Girlfriend', Chetan Bhagat. While Sharma expects Twitter to be a safe online town square for everyone, Bhagat wants to have nothing to do with “the domination of negativity spreading troll ganglords.”

The Paytm boss wrote, “Congratulations Elon Musk! Nearly everyone, everywhere has lots of expectations. I am sure you will build Twitter as a safe online town square for everyone.”

Bhagat went ahead and tweeted, “Now that Twitter has new owners, I hope this place becomes more fun again and the domination of negativity spreading by troll ganglords ends. Too many good people have left or paused tweeting because of this.”

But how exactly is Musk viewing free speech on Twitter? 

In a letter to Twitter employees after his take over, Musk said that it is obvious the platform cannot become a “free-for-all hellscape” where anyone can post anything without repercussions. He added that while the platform must adhere to all the laws around free speech, it should also provide a warm and welcoming experience to its users. 

He further stated, “Twitter aspires to be the most respected advertising platform in the world that strengthens your brand and grows your enterprise. To everyone who has partnered with us, I thank you. Let us build something extraordinary together.”

This is not much different from what he said in a Ted talk that went viral at a time when the billionaire’s takeover of Twitter was mired in uncertainty. Musk said during this TED talk with Chris Anderson, “It’s very important for there to be an inclusive arena for free speech. Twitter has become kind of the de facto town square.” 

He further talked about open-sourcing the Twitter algorithm to avoid “behind-the-scenes manipulation, either algorithmically or manually”. Musk noted, “And so one of the things that I believe Twitter should do is open-source the algorithm and make any changes to people’s tweets, if they’re emphasised or de-emphasised, that action should be made apparent so anyone can see that action has been taken.”

For the unversed, Elon Musk took over Twitter on Friday morning and reportedly ousted top executives including CEO Parag Agrawal; Twitter's legal, public policy, and trust and safety lead Vijaya Gadde; CFO Ned Segal; and General Counsel Sean Edgett. 

Also read: ‘Good riddance’: Netizens celebrate Parag Agrawal’s ouster as Twitter CEO

Also read: Twitter vs Musk: Tesla boss’ free speech campaign decoded; what does it mean