Timeline of events: Elon Musk and X (formerly Twitter)
Elon Musk's audacious bid to buy Twitter sent shockwaves through the tech world. Just over a year later, under the world’s richest person reign, the social media platform has undergone a dramatic transformation. From controversial personnel changes to rebranding and legal battles, the future of Twitter, or should we say X, remains uncertain. As the European Union tightens regulations and users grapple with the platform's new features, the question remains: will this bold experiment ultimately sink or swim?
He assigned himself the positions of CEO and sole director – firing the current Twitter CEO Agrawal, as well as CFO Ned Segal, and policy chief Vijaya Gadde. Musk, a self-described free speech absolutist, repeated that his plan for Twitter was to prevent echo chambers, defeat bots, and make algorithms freely available, all for the good of humanity. Much to the dismay of Twitter’s 7,500 employees, Musk also stated he planned to make major cuts to the workforce.
Although a triumph for Musk, European regulators were quick to remind the new CEO that his platform would still have to abide by the policies of the Digital Services Act or face large fines.
Twitter began offering the Twitter Blue Subscription for eight US dollars per month to all users. Very quickly, problems with the new system were apparent, as users created impersonation and parody accounts.
July 5th saw the release of Meta Platform’s new social network Threads. Integrated with Instagram, this new service from Mark Zuckerberg is a text-focused one, and comparisons were immediately made between Threads and X/Twitter.
Another change made by Musk was the removal of the blocking feature, which had allowed users to restrict accounts of their choosing from seeing and engaging with their content.
With regards to changes to the user experience, Musk suggested one way of tackling bots was to put the platform behind a paywall completely, proposing that a fully paid-for service was the solution to fake accounts and spam.
At the end of September, the feature on X which allows users to report misleading information was removed. The ability to report accounts that posted misleading content had been available since 2021 and was recognized by the company as a key tool on the platform, especially around the times of elections. This significant change to X comes at a crucial time for Australia in particular, with only a few weeks left before a referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament.
At the end of March 2024, X lost the lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH). It was ruled that it was evident that Musk's X Corp. had filed a lawsuit against the non-profit due to the disapproval of its criticism and the belief that its research would harm X's image and discourage advertisers.
In addition, X is expanding access to its Grok AI chatbot to all Premium subscribers. The launch of Grok in November 2023 marked the arrival of X's answer to ChatGPT, with the system relying on user posts to generate responses.
April 2022 – A shock bid for Twitter from the world’s richest person
Tech-billionaire and Tesla chief Elon Musk made a bid to buy social media platform Twitter for 43.4 billion US dollars in April 2022. Musk held a 9.2 percent stake in the company, making him the largest shareholder, and declared that he would reconsider his position as shareholder if his offer to buy the company was not accepted. Additionally, Musk declined to be on the board of directors when offered a seat.October 2022 – ‘the bird is freed’
In October 2022, after months of debating spam, fake accounts, and what almost became a lawsuit, Musk finally acquired Twitter for 44 billion US dollars. As a result of the deal, the company was taken off the stock market. “The bird is freed”, tweeted Musk.He assigned himself the positions of CEO and sole director – firing the current Twitter CEO Agrawal, as well as CFO Ned Segal, and policy chief Vijaya Gadde. Musk, a self-described free speech absolutist, repeated that his plan for Twitter was to prevent echo chambers, defeat bots, and make algorithms freely available, all for the good of humanity. Much to the dismay of Twitter’s 7,500 employees, Musk also stated he planned to make major cuts to the workforce.
Although a triumph for Musk, European regulators were quick to remind the new CEO that his platform would still have to abide by the policies of the Digital Services Act or face large fines.
November 2022 – is it sinking in?
November 2022 saw the beginnings of mass staff layoffs – within days, 50 percent of the workforce had been let go. Additionally, former president Donald Trump had his previously banned Twitter account reinstated, and Musk made big changes to the famous blue checkmark system, previously used to confirm the authenticity of journalists, politicians, and public figures.Twitter began offering the Twitter Blue Subscription for eight US dollars per month to all users. Very quickly, problems with the new system were apparent, as users created impersonation and parody accounts.
July 2023 – tweet goodbye to Twitter
In July 2023, Musk officially changed Twitter’s name to X. After a somewhat staggered rebranding, X.com was redirected to Twitter.com, and the much-recognized Twitter bird was replaced with a new, minimal ‘X’ logo. As of August 2023, one quarter of X/Twitter users in the United States reported feeling neutral about the new logo, whilst 22 percent said they were confused. As the platform stepped away from the bird-related theme, ‘tweets’ were simply renamed posts. Furthermore, the platform’s subscription service was retitled ‘X Premium’. As well as being able to write longer posts, X Premium users can edit posts, opt to see less advertisements, and are prioritized in conversations, amongst other things.July 5th saw the release of Meta Platform’s new social network Threads. Integrated with Instagram, this new service from Mark Zuckerberg is a text-focused one, and comparisons were immediately made between Threads and X/Twitter.
August 2023 – there may be trouble ahead
In August 2023, X began proceedings to sue the anti-hate organization the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH), claiming that the organization improperly gained access to X’s data. This came about after the not-for-profit group stated that X failed to remove posts containing hate speech and harmful content after they were reported. Even though the reported accounts were in violation of X’s policies, the posts remained active on the platform.Another change made by Musk was the removal of the blocking feature, which had allowed users to restrict accounts of their choosing from seeing and engaging with their content.
September 2023 – the EU doubles down
In September 2023, the EU reaffirmed that X must comply with the new laws set by the Digital Service Act (DSA) constructed to tackle fake news and Russian propaganda, and stressed the point that X was found to have the highest ratio of disinformation of all the large social networks. Overall, Facebook, Google, TikTok, and Microsoft were undertaking the code of practice drawn up by the EU, and even though X opted out of the code of conduct, the platform must abide by the regulations set out or risk being shut down in the region. European commissioner Věra Jourová reported that accounts responsible for disinformation on X had more followers than non-disinformation accounts and had also been created more recently than other accounts.With regards to changes to the user experience, Musk suggested one way of tackling bots was to put the platform behind a paywall completely, proposing that a fully paid-for service was the solution to fake accounts and spam.
At the end of September, the feature on X which allows users to report misleading information was removed. The ability to report accounts that posted misleading content had been available since 2021 and was recognized by the company as a key tool on the platform, especially around the times of elections. This significant change to X comes at a crucial time for Australia in particular, with only a few weeks left before a referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament.
March 2024 - X Hiring makes an impact
Fortunately for the platform, X Hiring is off to a strong start. As part of its top-tier Verification for Organizations package, X first launched job listings on business profiles in August last year, and there are now around one million open jobs posted on the service. Job advertisements are available as part of all X Premium packages, and, as of last month, on personal profiles for X Premium subscribers in the United States.At the end of March 2024, X lost the lawsuit against the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH). It was ruled that it was evident that Musk's X Corp. had filed a lawsuit against the non-profit due to the disapproval of its criticism and the belief that its research would harm X's image and discourage advertisers.
In addition, X is expanding access to its Grok AI chatbot to all Premium subscribers. The launch of Grok in November 2023 marked the arrival of X's answer to ChatGPT, with the system relying on user posts to generate responses.
