“With Elon Musk’s Twitter bid, there’s more at stake than freedom of speech: ‘It gives him a lot more influence over government'”

JM Grygiel, associate professor of communications in the Newhouse School, was quoted in the MarketWatch article “With Elon Musk’s Twitter bid, there’s more at stake than freedom of speech: ‘It gives him a lot more influence over government.'” Grygiel, who studies social media, believes that Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter was a move for his own gain rather than one to uphold free speech as some have claimed. “It gives him a lot more influence over governments, which rely on this platform for propaganda. Twitter has become a propaganda machine,” they said.

Grygiel also explained that Musk’s ownership of Twitter will allow him to be more life Mark Zuckerberg, who owns Facebook, in terms of his global influence on politics. “All the federal aspects of the government rely on Twitter too. It’s not just about the person, it’s about the country, it’s about the head of state, and the global geopolitical implications of Musk’s takeover of Twitter,” Grygiel said.