Researchers fear what a Musk acquisition might mean for Twitter research data

Image Credits: Twitter at CES 2020

Despite substantial backing from Morgan Stanley and the approval of the board of directors, the attempt by Musk to acquire the micro-blogging site stands on unsure footing at the moment.

Reporting and punditry have focused on the security implications of the proposed acquisition, as well as Musk's potential approaches to content moderation and his understanding of the concept of free speech.

It has not always been a good relationship with researchers. In recent years, the social network has made strides in providing access to its archives at a time when rivals have not. Academic researchers were one of the largest groups using the platform.

Some researchers are concerned that Musk doesn't share the same commitment to open data access as he did in the past, especially since he has shown a penchant for reporting that paints his ventures in an unflattering light.

Thus far, Twitter has been unique among the major platforms in how available they have made data for researchers. David G. Rand

Musk promised to build a website to rate articles and journalists in response to reports of crashes involving the company's cars.

In a future in which Musk becomes hostile toward researchers exposing the challenges and deficiencies of his company, Mor Naaman is a professor of information science at Cornell Tech.

I am not optimistic that the company will continue to strive for accountability under Musk. I don't think internal teams that scrutinize the ethics and bias of the company will be able to publish their findings publicly.

If these publications continue to publish, they will have a hard time overcoming the suspicion that they are putting out their own research papers.

Musk has said that he plans to stop the spread of fake news on the social networking site. According to Orestis Papakyriakopoulos, a researcher at the MIT Media Lab, some bots are not harmful.