Global News stokes fears that Elon Musk Twitter takeover will 'stifle marginalized groups'

Global News published an article on Saturday stating that Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter would “stifle marginalized groups” on the platform.

The billionaire’s dedication to free speech, the article argued, might hamper online expression. Without censorship, there would be nothing to stop marginalized communities from being chased right off the platform, they claim, and there would be nothing preventing the “floodgates of harassment” from crashing down on helpless Twitter users all over the globe.

“A sense of unease is percolating in some pockets of Twitter over concerns that Elon Musk‘s pending takeover could amplify toxic elements on the platform and drown out marginalized voices,” the article reads.

Last week, Elon Musk, the founder of both SpaceX and Tesla Inc., reached an agreement with Twitter’s board on a price tag for Twitter—a staggering $44 billion. The acquisition puts Musk in charge of one of the most widely-used social media platforms and brings into question what the future of Twitter will look like.

Musk has stated that he believes the platform has great potential and has referred to it as the defacto “town-square” of the online world.

While the list of changes Twitter might see in the near future hasn’t been officially released by its new owner, one of the tweaks might include the addition of an edit button, allowing users to alter their posts after they have been published.

Another change might be a more aggressive stance against spambots. Additionally, Musk has repeatedly vocalized his concerns about the platform’s crackdown on “misinformation” and its use of censorship to deal with the issue.

But where these changes suggest slight deviations from how the platform currently functions, Global News seems to be reading between the lines and seeing something far more sinister.

The concern of Global News is that this will allow a free reign of abusive behavior on the platform. But Musk has not yet specified what—if any—changes would come to Twitter’s community standards, behavioral guidelines, or harassment policies.

What Global News overlooks is that there is a difference between promoting free speech and upholding its own standards.

Hopefully, they won’t be too timid to stick around on Twitter and find out.