What Elon wants: Twitter buyout a victory for free speech or disinformation?
By France24
01 May 2022 |
5:11 am
A victory for free speech or for disinformation? That is the 44-billion dollar question after Elon Musk's swoop for Twitter. Does it matter any more than Amazon's Jeff Bezos owning The Washington Post or all the French captains of industry whose often money-losing media purchases buy them a platform to voice their views?
In this article
Related
3 Mar
Many posts on social media claiming to pertain to the current conflict in Ukraine are in fact videos and photos different events in other regions that happened several years ago. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake.
26 Mar
We take a look at bogus quotes attributed to the Brazilian and Mexican presidents, amongst others, falsely claiming that electronic voting systems are set to rig the upcoming French elections.
10 Apr
Prime Minister Viktor Orban declared victory in Hungary's parliamentary election after partial results showed his ruling Fidesz party is comfortably ahead of their opposition rivals.
5 Apr
Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Tuesday.
9 Apr
Leaders are asking Russian speakers in Germany not to heed "the cynical and trivializing disinformation campagin led by Russian state media." The statement came a day after a pro-Russian rally in Berlin.
5 Apr
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has bought a roughly 9-percent stake in Twitter. Media reports say he is now the largest shareholder in the social-media company. A US Securities and Exchange Commission filing shows Musk owns over 73 million Twitter shares representing a 9.2-percent stake.
7 Apr
With three days to go until the first round of the presidential election, French voters are uninterested and undecided, leaving paper La Croix concerned about the country's future. Is alarm over a possible far-right victory a campaign strategy of Emmanuel Macron, or is far-right contender Marine Le Pen "more of a threat than ever before"? We also look at reactions in Burkina Faso to the trial over Thomas Sankara's 1987 assassination, as well as US sanctions on Vladimir Putin's daughters and French campaign goodies.
11 Apr
It's been a big week for the world's richest man, Elon Musk. Not only has he inaugurated Tesla's new "gigafactory" in Texas, but he's also officially become Twitter's biggest shareholder. But did he do it for the memes, or does he intend to truly transform Twitter and the social media landscape as a whole? FRANCE 24's Tech Editor Peter O'Brien gives us his take.
12 Apr
We take a look at various Twitter profiles claiming to be journalists in Ukraine, despite several suspicious elements that don't add up: renaming of handles after the war, stealing old photos of the internet and creating AI-generated headshots. We tell you more in this edition of Truth or Fake with Vedika Bahl.
14 Apr
Billionaire and avid platform user Elon Musk has made an offer to purchase 100% of the shares for the social media giant.
Elon Musk offers to buy Twitter For $43.4 Billion, 106 Persons buried in Plateau attack- LG Chairman
15 Apr
Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Friday.
19 Apr
We take a closer look at the bid by the world's richest man to buy Twitter for $43 billion. Elon Musk would need the backing of major investment firms for the hostile takeover. We explore what a potential purchase could mean for free speech on Twitter and find out why Musk's asking price may have a drug-related reference. Also on the show, we report on why the price of fertilisers is skyrocketing and we get the latest on a fuel shortage in Kenya.
Latest
1 hour ago
In an interview with FRANCE 24, former Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko expressed concern over the fate of the Ukrainian soldiers evacuated from the besieged Azovstal steel plant in the eastern city of Mariupol, saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin should "never" be trusted. Ukrainian authorities say the fighters have been taken to areas under the control of Russian forces or pro-Russian rebels and will be exchanged at a later date for Russian prisoners.
1 hour ago
They say life imitates art. But in the case of Volodymyr Zelensky, art seemingly predicted life. He went from an acting role as Ukranian leader to a highly admired, real-life wartime president. How to explain such widespread appeal? What does he have that other leaders seem to lack? Régis Genté and Stéphane Siohan are the authors of one of the first French biographies of Volodymyr Zelensky. They joined us for Perspective.
3 hours ago
On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden visited the site of a deadly attack motivated by racial hatred. On May 14, an 18-year-old went on a shooting rampage in the city of Buffalo, killing 10 and injuring three, with the express purpose of targeting Black people. In an emotional speech, the US president spoke out against White supremacy, saying it was a "poison in our body politic".
3 hours ago
Opposition parties and constitutional experts have slammed President Umaro Sissoco Embalo's decision to dissolve parliament. The move has heightened fears in the coup-prone West African nation.
4 hours ago
Driving without legs may seems impossible. But Babatunde Kewejo keeps pushing himself and others to prove that amputees are not a burden to anyone.
1 day ago
Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Friday.