It was via tweets that Elon Musk put forward the idea of a new social network, a competitor to Twitter.
“Do we need a new platform? launched the founder of Tesla this weekend, on his Twitter feed, which has some 79 million subscribers.
Asked by a user of the microblogging site about his real intention of creating an open source platform emphasizing freedom of expression, the Tesla founder replied laconically that he was thinking about it “seriously”.
With an obvious sense of marketing, the entrepreneur had initiated surveys on the social network in recent days. For example, he asked: “Freedom of speech is essential to a functioning democracy. Do you think Twitter strictly adheres to this principle? “, adding:” the consequences of this vote will be important, thank you for answering carefully”. Informal survey which resulted in 70% of “no” votes. Elon Musk then pointed the finger at Twitter, accusing it of undermining democracy.
If he implemented his network project, Elon Musk would not be the first to position himself, but for the time being, none of the competing networks has managed to get closer to Twitter, which claims 217 million daily active users.
Am giving serious thought to this
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 27, 2022
Truth Social, Gettr… other attempts
Donald Trump a lancé Truth Social, in February, about a year after he was banned from Twitter, Facebook and Youtube.
For its part, Gettr, piloted by Jason Miller, former adviser and spokesperson for the billionaire, launched last summer, had conquered 4 million users, according to the New York Post, in January benefiting from a call from the ‘American Joe Rogan – known for his anti-vaccine positions – to join the network. The Parler network, popular with the American right, claimed 16 million users in December.
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? https://t.co/aPS9ycji37
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 26, 2022
Designated by Time Magazine “personality of the year 2021”, Elon Musk has a heavy history on the blue bird network. richest man in the world thanks to the soaring stock price of Tesla, has indeed repeatedly stirred the markets via Twitter.
In the summer of 2018, the whimsical billionaire had announced on Twitter that he was considering a delisting of the electric vehicle manufacturer, before giving it up a few weeks later.
Heavy fine after tweeting about Tesla
The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission), the American stock market policeman, then launched a investigation against the businessman for fraud . Tesla and its founder had each fined $20 million by the SEC . The regulator had also obtained that any communication from the boss “containing or which could contain information likely to affect Tesla or its shareholders” be reviewed by the company’s lawyers before being published.
But this case is not completely over today. Last week, the SEC indicated that Elon Musk’s tweets remained a subject of investigation for the government, even if justice rejected the agreement reached in 2018. Elon Musk, for his part, would like the surveillance of the SEC closes, arguing that the deal can be used to “trample” on its free speech rights.
The US court has also approved a plan under which the SEC will distribute $ 40 million to Tesla shareholders who lost money, on the fine paid by the car company and Elon Musk, following the agreement of 2018.