UFC commentator Joe Rogan gave an ecstatic reaction to the news that Elon Musk is buying Twitter.
Musk is the world’s richest person, according to Forbes, and has agreed to buy Twitter in a $44bn deal.
Upon the deal being confirmed, the 50-year-old tweeted: “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 spambots, and authenticating all humans.
“Twitter has tremendous potential. I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it.”
However, there have already been several concerns about the takeover. According to Sky News, shares in the car maker Tesla – of which Musk is chief executive – dropped by 12.2% overnight. The 50-year-old’s stake has fallen by $21bn, according to the same source, which is what he has pledged to put into Twitter. His net worth has also dropped by $29bn.
Others are also concerned about the extent of Musk’s definition of free speech. According to an article posted by the Daily Mail, some Twitter employees have claimed the deal is “dangerous for democracy” and how it could create “lawless hate, bigotry and misogyny”.
Musk addressed some of those concerns by stating: “By ‘free speech’, I simply mean that which matches the law.
“I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law. If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws on that effect.”
Joe Rogan reacts to Elon Musk Twitter purchase
Upon hearing the news that Elon Musk is set to purchase Twitter, UFC commentator Joe Rogan appeared ecstatic.
Rogan hosted Musk on an edition of his podcast, ‘The Joe Rogan Experience‘, in 2018.
He said: “Oh s***! Elon Musk has just bought Twitter. We’ve got a movie star, cut type of a superhero.
“If you had a movie, and there was a guy as a hero in the movie, who happened to be a billionaire and does wild s***, like make his own rockets, drills under the city and drives electric cars.
“Here’s why this is a big deal,” he continued. “He believes that free speech is important. Not just important. Vital. For a functioning democracy. And I agree with him.”
He then criticised Twitter and made several claims about Twitter’s alleged ‘shadow banning’ policy. The social media giant has previously denied that it uses the policy.
Rogan claimed: “We found out some things about Twitter, and one of the things they do is shadow banning people.
“They make your content have less impact, less engagement, they limit your ability to express yourself. They ban accounts, and they ban accounts if the account says something that they don’t agree with, if the account violates something that they believe.”
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