- Dubois destroys Joshua to retain IBF world heavyweight crown
- Guardiola says critics want Man City wiped 'from face of the Earth'
- Biden says 'Quad' is 'here to stay' despite challenges
- Dubois knocks out Joshua to retain IBF world heavyweight crown
- Vinicius helps 'faster' Madrid overturn stubborn Espanyol
- Zelensky to press US on long-range missile strikes inside Russia
- PSG drop first points in draw at Reims
- Vinicius, Mbappe on target as Madrid crush plucky Espanyol
- Jeeno leads Ko by two at LPGA Queen City Championship
- Bottega Veneta goes for 'E.T.' chic as Madonna pops into D&G
- Messi, Miami frustrated by New York late leveler
- Musk's X platform takes first step toward lifting Brazil ban
- 'Business as usual' for Australia match-winner Carey amid boos
- Israeli jets pound Lebanon after deadly Beirut strike
- Ten Hag bemoans Man Utd's lack of killer instinct in Palace stalemate
- France's Macron appoints new government in shift to right
- Cheika proud of Leicester grit after winning start as boss
- Profligate Man Utd pay price in 0-0 draw at Palace
- Kane, Olise run riot as Bayern thump Bremen
- Diaz fires Liverpool top of Premier League, Man Utd held at Palace
- LIV champion Rahm out of LIV Team semis with severe flu
- Slot surprised by tearful Nunez's moment of magic
- Title rivals Norris, Verstappen on 'cool' front row for Singapore GP
- Biden talks China with 'Quad' leaders in hometown summit
- Juve and Napoli play out goalless draw in early Serie A title tussle
- Alcaraz fears tennis tour grind will 'kill us'
- Carey sparks recovery as Australia thrash England in 2nd ODI
- Leclerc, Sainz lament 'disappointing' Saturday in Singapore
- Bottega Veneta holds investors' aces as Madonna pops into D&G
- Beirut digs for victims at building flattened in Israeli strike
- Verstappen stages protest over 'ridiculous' swearing punishment
- Bayern boss Kompany lauds 'special talent' Olise
- Diaz fires Liverpool top of Premier League, Spurs bounce back
- Heavy fire over Israel-Lebanon border after deadly Beirut strike
- Ramos guides unbeaten Toulouse to Montpellier win despite Hogg scuffle
- Myanmar flood death toll jumps to 384
- Chelsea owners 'happy' with win at West Ham amid rift report
- Kane and Olise run riot as Bayern thump Bremen
- Ramos guides unbeaten Toulouse to Montpellier win
- Norris pips Verstappen to dramatic Singapore pole after Sainz crash
- Carey takes Australia to 270 in 2nd ODI against England after collapse
- Two Hezbollah leaders killed in Israel's Beirut strike
- Hungary Danube waters reach decade high after Storm Boris
- Bagnaia cuts Martin's MotoGP lead with Emilia-Romagna sprint win
- Jackson double fires Chelsea to victory at woeful West Ham
- Fiji beat Japan to lift Pacific Nations Cup
- Kasatkina to face Haddad Maia in Korea Open final
- S.Africa snowfall closes roads, strands motorists overnight
- Lawyers of women alleging Al-Fayed sex abuse receive over 150 new enquiries
- President Museveni's son backs Ugandan strongman for 7th term
'Terrified': Musk Twitter buyout bid rattles tech world
Elon Musk's shock offer to buy Twitter drew immediate fears Thursday – and some cheers – over putting the platform in the hands of a mercurial billionaire who advocates fewer limits on what people can post.
Tech watchers reacted to the Tesla chief's proposal for one of the world's most influential information exchanges with immediate worries about accountability, public discourse and even how it could impact democracy.
"Twitter is too important to be owned and controlled by a single person," tweeted venture capitalist Fred Wilson. "The opposite should be happening. Twitter should be decentralized."
However, the $43 billion pitch faces uncertainty on several fronts, including potential board or shareholder resistance, as well as lack of information on how Musk would actually fund the all-cash offer.
Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal has already come out against the proposal, saying it's too low, drawing a sharp reply from Musk questioning Saudi Arabia's "views on journalistic freedom of speech."
Still, Musk provided some detail Thursday on his vision, saying he'd like to lift the veil on the algorithm that runs on the platform, even allowing people to look through it and suggest changes.
He also reiterated his stance favoring a more hands-off approach to policing the platform's content, a thorny matter that has fueled criticism of Twitter, especially for the highest-profile instances of violations of its terms of service.
Donald Trump's critics had long called for him to be kicked off the site, yet his supporters then voiced their outrage after he was barred over worries his tweets could spur violence.
"I do think that we want to be just very reluctant to delete things and just be very cautious with permanent bans. Timeouts, I think are better," Musk told a conference on Thursday, without addressing Trump directly.
"I think we want to really have, like a sort of obsession and reality, that speech is as free as reasonably possible," he added.
- 'Sounds ridiculous' -
Critics argued that free speech absolutism on social media can be very messy in the real world.
"I am frightened by the impact on society and politics if Elon Musk acquires Twitter," tweeted Max Boot, a Washington Post columnist.
"He seems to believe that on social media anything goes. For democracy to survive, we need more content moderation, not less," Boot added.
Yet supporters of Musk's hostile takeover bid came to the exact opposite conclusion, welcoming the prospect.
"This is the best news for free speech in years!" tweeted Nigel Farage, a populist British politician who helped lead the campaign for Brexit.
American conservatives like Senator Ted Cruz also voiced their backing for less moderation.
"If the left thinks they're right, why are they so terrified of free speech?" he tweeted in reply to Boot's criticism.
Yet both left and right of the political spectrum in the United States have been skeptical of the power concentrated in the hands of social media platforms and their lack of accountability.
US national lawmakers have been deadlocked for so long over how to regulate Big Tech that individual states have launched their own rules, probes and lawsuits.
"Twitter as a private company just reduces the little public accountability social media have as fiduciaries to the public," tweeted Maya Zehavi, a tech entrepreneur.
Facebook's parent firm Meta is public, but founder Mark Zuckerberg has effective control over the company because of the shares he owns.
Critics have repeatedly argued that a barrier to Facebook evolving past its reputation as a troubled but profitable social network is the ability for its head to remain in power.
The idea of taking Twitter, which is currently publicly owned, toward a structure that would concentrate power in Musk's hands struck some as contradictory.
It has been called the world's town square for the exchange of ideas, and thus a place where the right to speak is primary.
"'I have to buy and take the public square private in order to save it!' Try saying it out loud. It sounds ridiculous," tweeted Renee DiResta, technical research manager at Stanford Internet Observatory.
O.Bulka--BTB