“The bird was released” and the “main prisoner” … Oh Elon Musk no longer has an account Twitter. He has a Twitter.

Within hours of starting a new era at Twitter Inc, the platform’s new owner, the billionaire, was inundated with messages and requests from blocked accounts and world leaders.

The flood of inquiries highlights the challenge facing the Tesla and SpaceX founder balancing a promise to restore freedom of speech and keeping the platform from becoming “hell,” he wrote Thursday in a message to advertisers.

“It is important for the future of civilization to have a public online space where different opinions can be expressed in a healthy way without resorting to violence,” Musk said. “However, Twitter obviously can’t be a hell of a place, open to everyone, where you can say whatever you want without repercussions,” he added.

Messages from Trump and Medvedev

Former U.S. President Donald Trump, who was permanently banned from Twitter amid accusations of inciting violence in the aftermath of the January 6, 2021 Capitol Hill riots, welcomed the ransom today but said he would not return to Twitter. “I’m so glad Twitter is now in good hands and will no longer be run by crazy left radicals who really hate our country,” he wrote in a post on his own Truth Social network. “I like Elon, but I stand for the Truth,” Trump later told Fox News, but did not specify whether he would tweet if his ban on the platform was lifted.

Dmitry Medvedev, former President of Russia and current Deputy Chairman of the Russian Security Council, tweeted his congratulations: “Good luck to Elon Musk in overcoming political bias and ideological diktat on Twitter. And leave Starlink activities in Ukraine.”

Others called on Musk to lift the sanctions imposed by the social media platform. In response to @catturd2, an anonymous account with 852,000 followers who is known to be a big supporter of Trump’s election fraud allegations and who said he was blocked by many users, Musk tweeted, “Today I’m going to indulge myself more.”

The pressure on Musk and Twitter is mounting as he plans to address the company’s employees today after the deal closes.

“Hey Elon Musk, now that you have Twitter, will you help fight Trudeau’s C-11 cybercensorship bill”? Canada Proud, an organization working to overthrow Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, tweeted.

“First of all, I heard (you),” Musk replied in a tweet today.

Musk plans cuts

The billionaire did not provide details about how he will achieve all this and who will manage the company. The company said it plans to cut jobs, leaving Twitter’s 7,500 employees to worry about their future. On Thursday, he also said he bought Twitter not to make more money, but “to try to help humanity, which I love.”

He sought to assuage Twitter workers’ fears of impending layoffs and assured advertisers that his previous criticism of Twitter’s content moderation rules would not hurt its appeal.

Less than 10% of the 266 Twitter employees who took part in a survey for messaging app Blind expected to be still working three months later. Blind allows employees to report their grievances anonymously after registering via company email.

After tight talks ended in many twists and turns, the world’s richest man immediately fired Twitter chief Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal and legal and policy chief Vijay Gandhi, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Musk accused them of misleading him and Twitter investors about the number of fake accounts on the platform.

The sources added that Agrawal and Seagal were at Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco when the deal closed and they were escorted out of the building.

The Tesla founder plans to become interim CEO of Twitter, according to a person familiar with the matter. The agency plans to lift the permanent blocking of users, Bloomberg reports, citing a source familiar with the matter.

“Musk is in the awkward position of forcing top executives to work for him on a platform he has publicly discredited,” Jasmine Oeberg, an analyst at Insider Intelligence, said.

Twitter, Musk and executives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

“Chief Gunner”

Before closing the deal, the eccentric SpaceX founder walked into Twitter headquarters on Wednesday with a big smile, carrying a china shell, and then tweeted, “Let it sink.” Changed the description of my Twitter profile to “Chief Twit”.

European regulators echoed earlier warnings that, under Musk’s leadership, Twitter must comply with digital services laws that impose hefty fines on companies if they fail to control illegal content.

“In Europe, the bird will fly in accordance with our European rules,” Thierry Breton, Commissioner for the European Internal Market, tweeted this morning, who initiated the legislation, responding in the same vein to Musk.

MEP and civil rights activist Patrick Breuer suggested that people look for alternatives where privacy is a priority.

“Twitter already knows our identities dangerously well due to ubiquitous tracking of our every click. Now that knowledge will fall into Musk’s hands.”

Musk said he sees Twitter as the basis for building a “super app” that offers everything from money transfers to shopping and transportation services.

But Twitter is struggling to attract its most active users, which are vital to the business. These “active tweeters” make up less than 10% of total monthly users, but generate 90% of all tweets and half of the world’s revenue.

Musk will face a revenue challenge, “given that the conflicting views that he seems to want to give more freedom to are often unpalatable for advertisers,” Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Suzanne Streeter said.

“Experts we spoke to suggest that around 600 people at Twitter itself, as well as thousands of contractors, are responsible for coordinating the platform,” said Scott Kessler of Third Bridge Research Center. “Musk has publicly advocated for these actions to be driven by algorithms, not humans,” he said.

As news of the deal spread, some Twitter users were quick to express a desire to leave.

“I will be happy to leave immediately if Musk acts in the way we all expect,” user @mustlovedogsxo said.

^{Source: APE-MEB, Reuters, AFP.}