Under Elon Musk's leadership, Twitter could become a 'supercharged engine of radicalization,' critics warn

On Thursday, Musk completed his long-awaited $44 billion acquisition of Twitter, immediately firing top executives and prompting concern among critics who worry he will bring in more hate speech onto the platform.

The emergence of Fox News changed the information landscape in the late 1990s, and we will all be worse off because of it, according to the president of the left.

Musk, who has maintained he is a " free speech absolutist " despite a professional reputation of silence critics with retaliation and threats of lawsuits, has long denounced the policies of the micro-blogging site. Musk said in May that he would reverse the decision to ban Donald Trump from the platform.

Lawmakers, media watchdogs, and advocacy groups have said for months that Musk's purchase of the platform would have immense consequences for data privacy, in addition to a rise in harassment, extremists, and hyperpartisanship.

The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation said that Musk has a record of posting and defending harmful anti-LGBTQ content. "We are concerned about the safety of LGBTQ people on the internet and we are joining other organizations that are questioning the future policies and actions of the social networking site."

The co- founder of Accountable Tech said Musk's firing of a top legal and policy executive was a long-term catastrophe.

While Musk did not respond to a request for comment for this story, a spokesman for the new owner of the social platform referred to two posts about the future of moderation.

Musk said on Thursday that most of the speculation surrounding his motivation to buy is incorrect and that the platform cannot become a free-for-all hellscape where anything can be said with no consequences. He did not specify how to accomplish the goal of being warm and welcoming to all.

There are no changes to the content moderation policies on the platform. He said a moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints will be convened before policy changes are made.

The Washington Post reported that a social media research group said that use of the N-word jumped by 500% after Musk took over. The New York Times reported that researchers from a digital investigations company found a surge in the number of right-wing media accounts on the social networking site.

"Simply put, it's now on a glide path to becoming a supercharged engine of radicalization," said Carusone. Musk will lead to a swamp of dangerous conspiracy theories, partisan chicanery, and operationalized harassment.