Reseller
Could Elon Musk have made a huge mistake in buying Twitter?
I mean, he did try his hardest to get out of it, and that may have been for good reason. As noted by Info Sec expert Alex Stamos, Musk is going to be confronted with various business conflicts, as he works with a range of governments to expand Tesla – while those governments also seek to negotiate more favorable treatment in their requests of Twitter and its role in disseminating key information.
For example:
- The Chinese Government has been found to be operating several covert influence campaigns, on several platforms, including Twitter. Many of Tesla’s components are manufactured in China, which is also a key market for Tesla sales.
- Musk is looking to expand Tesla into India, while the Indian Government has clashed with Twitter, at various times, over requests to censor certain discussions and terms
- Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal was a key investor in Musk’s Twitter bid, and now holds a significant stake in the company.
These are just some of the vectors where Musk may be forced to make significant compromises, or change his thinking around moderation and Twitter’s approach. Otherwise, he could risk significant opportunities for his main business.
How will he negotiate this? There’s certainly an ever-growing number of plates spinning for the billionaire ‘Chief Twit’.
