When Technologists Become Activists. What’s Musk Really Doing?

Why do talented technologists and successful technology entrepreneurs become political activists?

Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter is a case in point. Is Musk looking to “fix” Twitter’s technology? Or is he looking for a platform to influence public policy? The first motive is consistent with a technologist’s calling, but the second is something else altogether.

Obviously anyone can buy anything. Even really expensive things if he or she has the money. That said, tens of billions of dollars were lost the moment the deal closed. Was Musk “forced” to do the deal or – in spite of the ridiculous price – was there another motive?

There’s precedent for such acquisitions: Jeff Bezos acquired the Washington Post and Marc Benioff acquired Time. But this one is different. Bezos and Benioff don’t send provocative tweets every day about what they’re doing on Tuesday, but not on Wednesday. They don’t troll for a living.

Context

Zachary Karabell describes it well:

“The fear that Musk will somehow turn Twitter into his personal megaphone belies that fact that it already is — and that’s true for many others, too. And the fear that he will turn Twitter into an ungovernable sphere of false information belies the fact that in many ways it currently is just that, along with a magnificent sphere for finding information and like-minded people and groups.”

So why do so many see Musk’s acquisition of Twitter as “different”? Karabell again:

“Why then is Musk buying Twitter seen as such as dangerous anomaly? In part, it’s because Twitter isn’t a publication distributed in the public square (digitally or physically), it is one of the squares. In that way it’s more like a very big network than a single media property.”

You bet it’s different. Not just because “it’s more like a very big network than a single media property,” but because it’s now owned by a social celebrity. For this reason alone it will influence public policy. Not sure? Anything Musk says – now in his own public square – about free speech will be covered over and over again, coverage that will itself influence the context, definition and policy around free speech the same way TV stars, medical hucksters and retired football players influence policy.

Credibility

The free speech discussion has been going on for decades – centuries, in fact. Has Musk published a definitive essay on free speech? (Tweets don’t count.) Is he a credentialed expert on free speech? Then why is he part of the free speech debate? Much more importantly, why does he want to be part of the free speech debate? Obviously, anyone can opine about free speech – which is the essence of free speech! But credentials are important when tackling existential policy. Would you listen to your young grandkids about how to stop global warming?

Or is credibility for sale?

The Platform Needs Technology Help

There’s lots to do on the platform – lots to keep Elon busy for a long time. The interface needs work. Scalability, accessibility, integration and security – among other “fixes” – are on the list. Real-time should mean “real-time.” Bot-control is essential. Pay-for-tweets is another innovation (for Twitter) that should be explored. The elephant in the room is the technological control of hate speech and the spreading of misinformation. Musk appears to want to “regulate” certain speech through a content moderation council, or some such entity, while servicing his definition of free speech. The clues he provides are, as usual, opaque, but this is all technologically possible. It’s also relatively easy to give Twitter users the ability to fine-filter the content they see well beyond the current tools. Machine learning can help here. These are just a few of the technological challenges – in the technologist’s swim lane – facing Twitter.

Grandiose or Naïve?

Elon Musk:

“The reason why I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital square, where a wide variety of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence. There is currently a great danger that social media will splinter into far right wing and far left wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society.”

The future of civilization somehow depends on Twitter? This is news.

But since Musk closed the deal, the amount of racist “free speech” has exploded:

“An emboldened cast of anonymous trolls spewed racist slurs and Nazi memes onto Twitter in the hours after billionaire industrialist Elon Musk took over the social network, raising fears that his pledge of unrestricted free speech could fuel a new wave of online hate.”

In smug language: “how’s that working out for you?”

Problems of Your Own Acquisition

Some problems are unsolvable – especially when you think they’re not. Scott Galloway said it best: “he’s essentially dug a pit for himself filled it with cobras and grenades and jumped in.”

When you’re a world-class swimmer, swim lanes are your friends. But when you leave the pool, you can drown.