Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Elon Musk makes $43B unsolicited bid to take Twitter private

bloomberg.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

481–490 of 1001 posts

Re: Elon Musk makes $43B unsolicited bid to take Twitter private

#481

Post by weakfish »

The thing that is absolutely puzzling to me in these conversations is it seems that people who generally believe in the free market desire what amounts to regulation on social media platforms, inversely, to protect 'free speech' when in fact Twitter has the absolute right in the free market to moderate as they see fit when free speech only protects from governmental actions.

And to those who would make the argument that Twitter is too big to not be protected under free speech, I would say that Twitter is _excellent_ at making its user base seem more important than it is. Go outside, talk to people. Twitter is just a shitty microcosm.

Re: Elon Musk makes $43B unsolicited bid to take Twitter private

#482

Post by memish »

enumjorge wrote: post #461

It’s amazing to me that people really think someone like Musk would a good steward of free speech. This idea that the obscenely wealthy are going to come in and save us from ourselves, if only we can let them be in charge, is a tale as old as time, yet people keep believing it.

The obscenely wealthy control it now. He would be a much better steward of free speech than they are, that much is obvious. Don't let perfect be the enemy of good.

Re: Elon Musk makes $43B unsolicited bid to take Twitter private

#483

Post by ambrozk »

cgtyoder wrote: post #311

This is exactly why individuals should not be allowed to have tens (let alone hundreds!) of billions of dollars in wealth - they become all-powerful and too easily subvert the will of the people. They become their own ruling class, which is unacceptable in a functioning democracy.

Exactly. It's sickening to see a billionaire like Elon Musk push around the ordinary people who currently own Twitter! (The ordinary people are Morgan Stanley, BlackRock, and State Street Corp.)

Re: Elon Musk makes $43B unsolicited bid to take Twitter private

#484

Post by mattcwilson »

enumjorge wrote: post #461

It’s amazing to me that people really think someone like Musk would a good steward of free speech. This idea that the obscenely wealthy are going to come in and save us from ourselves, if only we can let them be in charge, is a tale as old as time, yet people keep believing it.

Do you have a counter-proposal?

Re: Elon Musk makes $43B unsolicited bid to take Twitter private

#485

Post by wwweston »

motohagiography wrote: post #222

Imo, he's taking responsibility. If as an individual you can deploy the most money in the world, what do you do with it? Twitter became a negative-sum game of people competing to debase themselves in service of narrative in exchange for nothing but the approval of others who had already done the same. Unlocking that negative cycle can release a lot of captive value for everyone. The best way to do that is to connect…

> Twitter became a negative-sum game of people competing to debase themselves in service of narrative in exchange for nothing but the approval of others who had already done the same.

I'm trying to imagine this statement actually both having meaning and corresponding to reality and failing.

Re: Elon Musk makes $43B unsolicited bid to take Twitter private

#486

Post by SteveDR »

BeKindAndLearn wrote: post #343
paganel wrote: post #50

I personally think this is excellent, in the great scheme of things, maybe this will open a real discussion about the real oligarchic nature of the US political and societal life at the top. I mean, with tech titan (and second wealthiest man on the planet) Bezos owning the WaPo, the moment the tech titan (and the wealthiest man on the planet) Musk will put his hands on Twitter hopefully will also be the moment of som…

Oligarchs controlling every form of my mass communication can only make things worse, though.

Isn’t that the current state of things?

If musk makes this purchase it won’t centralize power any more, but it will draw attention to how centralized that power is. Which is a good thing

Re: Elon Musk makes $43B unsolicited bid to take Twitter private

#488

Post by seanw444 »

duxup wrote: post #389

I don't know what anyone means by "free speech" sometimes. Often I think it is just "I get to say what I want." but beyond that they've no idea.

In the literal sense, it would be banning zero content. Not even gory, adult-themed/non-family-friendly content. Personally, I'm all for that. You can't have good without bad. Giving more freedom means giving it to bad actors just as much as good actors. That's just something people can't seem to come to terms with.

Re: Elon Musk makes $43B unsolicited bid to take Twitter private

#489

Post by ErikVandeWater »

weakfish wrote: post #481

The thing that is absolutely puzzling to me in these conversations is it seems that people who generally believe in the free market desire what amounts to regulation on social media platforms, inversely, to protect 'free speech' when in fact Twitter has the absolute right in the free market to moderate as they see fit when free speech only protects from governmental actions. And to those who would make the argument t…

Big social media companies, just like all other companies, desire regulations that solidify their market share and make it more difficult to create a new competitor. What generally happens in the US is a new regulation is drafted that theoretically achieves some good end, but whose true purpose is to make it more difficult for competitors to enter the space. That's why companies pay lobbyists.

Re: Elon Musk makes $43B unsolicited bid to take Twitter private

#490

Post by bombastry »

bambax wrote: post #255

I personally dislike Musk and most things he says and does, but I am grateful for the fact that his actions lead to more hilarious chronicles by Matt Levine (Money Stuff). Can't wait for today's installment!!!

Unfortunately the newsletter is on break until Monday, although he did end up writing a column about Musk on one of his days off a week ago[1].

We may be limited for now to his brief reactions to news on Twitter[2][3].

[1] https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-04-04/elon-m... [2] https://twitter.com/matt_levine/status/1514549976910770182 [3] https://twitter.com/matt_levine/status/1514562166740992005

Post reply on HN