Buyouts, Sell-Offs and Bad Behavior: Processing The Future of Content

variety.com:

Claudia Eller Co-Editor-in-ChiefWhat a whacked-out couple of weeks this has been!When I began writing this editor’s letter about the onslaught of news, I wasn’t even planning to mention Elon Musk’s pursuit of Twitter because a deal looked dead in the water.

Then we got whiplashed this past weekend when suddenly the acquisition appeared imminent. Sure enough, it was announced Monday that the Twitter board had accepted his $44 billion takeover offer.Now we’re trying to process what exactly that will mean.

Here’s our digital editor Todd Spangler’s quick take: “The question is whether Elon Musk looks like a white knight for Twitter — or more like an evil overlord,” says Spangler. “He’s talked about his desire to have Twitter take a more laissez-faire approach to regulating speech on the platform, but what that means in practice for Twitter’s business is unclear.

For years, Twitter has faced ongoing concerns from advertisers and users over misinformation and hate speech on the platform.