For several years now, the technology sector has not only been booming, but has positioned itself as an engine of economies. This has led to more and more technology companies emerging, at the same time that states are investing enormous amounts of money to not be left behind in this area.
You just need to notice that in Forbes’ list of the 10 richest people in the world, nine of these people work within the technology sector, and In that first position we find the one and only Elon Muskwhich according to data from September of this year amasses a fortune of $243.7 billion in net worth.
Musk is one of the most influential people in the sector, his company Tesla is a benchmark in electric mobility, but they are not the only ones, since Space X, his artificial intelligence company xAI or Neuralink are also leaders in their respective areas. Although there is more, since just over two years ago he decided to buy the social network Twitter, now renamed by him as X.
This move caused a huge stir, not only because Musk paid the stratospheric amount of $44 billion for the platform, but also because the playground of public debate that the app was until now, ran the risk of being affected by the interests of the tycoon. And indeed, surprising very few, the “Musk effect” on Twitter has been noticed (for the worse) within the social network, where disinformation and “fake news” have multiplied.
Was it all part of a plan devised by Musk?
Musk has always been very active on the social network, long before he bought it, and is aware like many others that Twitter has a perfect format for generating opinions. Among the most notable changes since his arrival has undoubtedly been the lack of content moderators (whom he quickly fired)who are in charge of analyzing the publications and deciding whether they remain on the platform or not.
This task is essential, since The lack of content moderation only contributes to the rise of messages of hate, violence and misinformationwhich does a lot of damage to society. Of course, he does not do this up front, and according to him his mission is to “maintain freedom of expression”, but in practice his control over Twitter has only led to the amplification of his ideas, the censorship of those contrary to him and a greater rise in polarization within our society.
Why did Elon Musk buy Twitter?
That said, it seems somewhat clearer why Musk bought Twitter, however, for a businessman like Musk this operation makes no sense. This is because two years after the purchase of the social network, they have already called it the worst operation they have done since the 2008 crisis. This is because from the $44,000 that the tycoon paidTwitter has lost approximately 90% of its value, with estimates that It is currently valued at about 4,000 million.
In turn, Musk acknowledged that Twitter had lost almost 50% of the app’s advertising revenueso we can categorize this purchase as a disaster. But what if Musk didn’t care about the economic aspect? And seen what has been seen, The richest man in the world is willing to lose money in exchange for something more important, power.
Although the amount of money is correlated with the amount of power or influence that a person has, there are limits that begin with legal and executive powers. And it is precisely in the second where Musk wants to break in, and the way the presidential elections have unfolded in the US, Musk’s plan now seems clearer than ever.
He spent a fortune to get Twitter, and he doesn’t care about the money, What matters to you is being able to shape the social network to your liking and likeness.. A clear example of this is that today if you open the app (regardless of whether you follow him or not) his personal Twitter account will jump to you, that is, His message and all those he supports are displayed in the accounts of all users of the social network.
Likewise, as recent research by The Wall Street Journal shows, that no matter what your interests, Twitter’s algorithm has a clear political bias that drives Trumpist and conservative postswhich will ensure that these contents are always promoted to you.
With this control, and with the change that has occurred in our society in terms of how it is informed (through the internet and social networks) Musk has almost completely succeeded in taking over the “fourth estate”“And whether with legitimate or false information, Twitter can shape public opinion, which has undoubtedly helped the return of Donald Trump to the White House.
Musk: White House goal
But Trump’s return to the US presidency was not the only objective, since Musk predictably wants something to change, and in recent months a close and very strong relationship has been created between both magnates. In fact, a few months ago it was dropped the possibility that Musk was a political advisor to Trumpand everything indicates that This could become a reality when Trump is inaugurated in January next year as the new president of the United States.
This would explain why a person known for his businesses and the success he has with them as he is Musk has been willing to lose millions of dollars and why she didn’t mind having to sell shares of her precious Teslawas a complete picture that we had not been able to see, and that shows that feudalism, in this case techno-feudalism, continues to exist, even if it is in a more modern way.
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