Spam, scams, and propaganda: The state of Twitter 15 months into Elon Musk’s reign

By the end of 2021, Elon Musk was increasingly adamant that free speech was in retreat around the world. The culprit, according to the billionaire, was the “woke mind virus.” The billionaire then decided to “trace the path of the woke virus,” which according to him was “attempting to destroy civilization.” After all, if civilization ended, then “humanity will never reach Mars.” Musk's obsession with the spread of “woke culture” was one of the reasons the billionaire began buying Twitter shares in 2022, Walter Isaacson writes in his biography of the businessman. Musk was upset that the platform had blocked the account of former President Donald Trump and other members of the American far-right.

After joining the company's board of directors, Musk claimed to set his sights on increasing free speech on the platform, presenting himself as a champion of democracy. “Twitter should be moving toward free speech, at least to the extent that the law requires. And right now, Twitter is suppressing free speech more than the law requires,” he said in a meeting with friends and business partners Luke Nosek and Ken Howery. A few weeks later, Musk would call himself “a free speech absolutist,” and in a little more time, he would gain full power over Twitter — not just a popular social network, but an important tool of political influence.

Isaacson says that, for most of Musk’slife, the billionaire’s political views had been largely centrist. Many of his best friends from the business world, however, were ardent libertarians — notably Nosek, Howery, and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel. The latter had been a critic of “woke culture” for years and even wrote a book in the 90s criticizing political correctness. According to Isaacson, Musk’s old friends, along with prominent podcast host Joe Rogan and blogger Jordan Peterson, had a significant influence on the entrepreneur's future political course. All of them are actively opposed to “cancel culture,” feminism, and anything considered close to left-wing political views. After meeting Peterson and Rogan at a party at Tesla's Gigafactory in Texas, Musk began actively speaking out on political issues and looking for new ways to influence politics. The change in Musk's views was also noticed by his ex-wife, Justine Wilson, and by the singer Grimes, Musk's ex-girlfriend and the mother of two of his children. Both were taken aback by his new political beliefs and fascination with far-right conspiracy theories.

Musk's control of Twitter became more of a political action than a financial investment. He decided to fight against a culture that he considers “communism rebranded” and a “death cult.”