美国国家公共电台 NPR--Elon Musk bought Twitter. Here's what he says he'll do next

Elon Musk¹ bought Twitter. Here's what he says he'll do next

Transcript²

Elon Musk will soon hold the keys to Twitter.

The company announced on Monday that it has accepted the Tesla CEO's $44 billion offer to take the company private. That means the world's richest person who has a penchant⁴ for theatrics and erratic⁵ behavior is about to have the power to reshape discourse⁶ on a social network used by more than 200 million people every day.

How might Musk wield⁷ that power?

Here are some proposals for Twitter that he's floated.

Loosen up content rules in the name of free speech

The Tesla and SpaceX CEO describes himself as a "free speech absolutist" and has criticized what he sees as excessive moderation on online platforms.

He nodded to these beliefs in his statement announcing the purchase by saying that "free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated."

Musk has argued that social networks should not remove comments that, while offensive, are still legal. During a recent interview at a TED³ conference he said, "If it's a gray area, let the tweet exist."

Twitter currently bans harassment⁸, abuse and posts that wish physical harm to someone. The platform has other guardrails too, like a prohibition⁹ on misinformation related to COVID-19.

Experts who study social networks fret¹⁰ about Musk's push to loosen the rules of engagement on Twitter. They say that could give license¹¹ to harassers, trolls and others who abuse the platform to target people.

They also worry relaxing the rules on Twitter will empower those looking to exploit the platform by spreading misinformation, or flat-out lies, about political events, government officials and matters related to public health and safety.

Create an edit button so users can change their tweets

One of the most requested product changes among Twitter users is an edit button.

Unlike Facebook, Instagram and other social media apps, it is not possible to change content on Twitter once it's published.

Musk has said he supports letting people change what their tweets say, a proposal that has stirred a heated debate among academics, journalists and other heavy users of the platform.

The fear among experts is that adding an edit button feature would be weaponized by bad actors, who could use it to cover up abuse or harassment as if it never happened, or to dupe or manipulate people.

But others say safeguards could be put in place so that tweets could be edited to clean up typos, while also showing a history of how the tweet was edited to preserve the original content.

Open up Twitter's algorithm to the public

Musk has said that the software that determines what people see and how widely content spreads on Twitter should be cracked open. He supports placing Twitter's algorithm on GitHub, a site popular with programmers for sharing computer code.

While some advocates of more transparency at social media companies say the that could be a step towards greater openness, others say revealing Twitter's dense¹² and complicated algorithm to the public would accomplish very little. Furthermore, allowing anyone to see Twitter's algorithm could give spammers and malicious¹³ actors a way to exploit the system.

Then there's the fact that a social network the size of Twitter processes billions of pieces of content every day. How and why tweets go viral, and how Twitter's recommendation system works, is so dense and complex that the company's own software engineers can be perplexed¹⁴ trying to understand its logic¹⁵. And without the underlying¹⁶ user data, which would not be public, the algorithm alone would likely provide few clues about how ranking works at Twitter.

Launch a war on 'bot armies'

Combating the proliferation of bots on Twitter — fake accounts that are programmed to respond to tweets on certain topics — is another change Musk favors.

Musk's business empire has been known to attract is fair share of bots, including bots supportive of his electric car company Tesla that attack Musk critics.

He has not said he would like to temper those kind of bots, but he has suggested that there should be a crackdown on scammy bots promoting cryptocurrency hustles¹⁷.

"If our twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying!" Musk tweeted last week, adding that he'd like to "authenticate¹⁸ all real humans."

It should be noted¹⁹ that Twitter already has strong rules against spam, and it bans things like attempting to artificially influence conversations on the platform with fake accounts and bots, so the question remains²⁰ how exactly Musk would strengthen an already robust²¹ anti-spam policy?

Scrap²² advertisements

Right now, almost 90% of Twitter's revenue comes from advertising²³, but the company has struggled to attract advertisers to the platform, which often devolves into political firestorms and ugly online brawls²⁴.

With the company going private, it will not be under the same pressure from shareholders²⁵ to continually grow advertising revenue. Musk has said it should move to a subscription²⁶ model.

Twitter has already taken some steps in that direction with the introduction last year of Twitter Blue, a premium²⁷ service that cost $2.99 a month for addition features, like an undo²⁸ button that allows for tweets to be recalled before they are sent.

Musk has said Twitter Blue should be cheaper, that if people are paying, they shouldn't have to see advertisements and that the cryptocurrency that started as a joke, Dogecoin, should be an acceptable form of payment for a Twitter subscription.

And a big unknown: Reinstate Donald Trump²⁹?

Musk has not publicly said whether he would allow former President Donald Trump back on the platform after the company permanently³⁰ suspended him for rhetoric³¹ that broke its rules and stoked the siege on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.

In an interview with Fox News on Monday, Trump called Musk "a good man," saying he was pleased with the billionaire's acquisition, but Trump said he has no plans to try to return to the Twitter. Instead, Trump said he will be focusing on his alternative social network known as Truth Social.

At an all-hands meeting on Monday afternoon, a Twitter employee asked CEO Parag Agrawal whether Trump would be reinstated. Agrawal said that was a question for Musk.

"Once the deal closes, we don't know which direction the platform will go," he said.

NPR's Shannon Bond contributed to this report.

1 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 ted   

vt.翻晒，撒，撒开

参考例句：

• The invaders gut ted the village.侵略者把村中财物洗劫一空。
• She often teds the corn when it's sunny.天好的时候她就翻晒玉米。

4 penchant   

n.爱好，嗜好；（强烈的）倾向

参考例句：

• She has a penchant for Indian food.她爱吃印度食物。
• He had a penchant for playing jokes on people.他喜欢拿人开玩笑。

5 erratic   

adj.古怪的，反复无常的，不稳定的

参考例句：

• The old man had always been cranky and erratic.那老头儿性情古怪,反复无常。
• The erratic fluctuation of market prices is in consequence of unstable economy.经济波动致使市场物价忽起忽落。

6 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

7 wield   

vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等)

参考例句：

• They wield enormous political power.他们行使巨大的政治权力。
• People may wield the power in a democracy.在民主国家里，人民可以行使权力。

8 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

9 prohibition   

n.禁止；禁令，禁律

参考例句：

• The prohibition against drunken driving will save many lives.禁止酒后开车将会减少许多死亡事故。
• They voted in favour of the prohibition of smoking in public areas.他们投票赞成禁止在公共场所吸烟。

10 fret   

v.(使)烦恼；(使)焦急；(使)腐蚀，(使)磨损

参考例句：

• Don't fret.We'll get there on time.别着急，我们能准时到那里。
• She'll fret herself to death one of these days.她总有一天会愁死的.

11 license   

n.执照，许可证，特许；v.许可，特许

参考例句：

• The foreign guest has a license on the person.这个外国客人随身携带执照。
• The driver was arrested for having false license plates on his car.司机由于使用假车牌而被捕。

12 dense   

a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的

参考例句：

• The general ambushed his troops in the dense woods. 将军把部队埋伏在浓密的树林里。
• The path was completely covered by the dense foliage. 小路被树叶厚厚地盖了一层。

13 malicious   

adj.有恶意的，心怀恶意的

参考例句：

• You ought to kick back at such malicious slander. 你应当反击这种恶毒的污蔑。
• Their talk was slightly malicious.他们的谈话有点儿心怀不轨。

14 perplexed   

adj.不知所措的

参考例句：

• The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛，走了又回来，犹豫不决，总怕上当受骗。
• The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。

15 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

16 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

17 hustles   

忙碌，奔忙( hustle的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He often hustles on the streets to pay for drugs. 为弄到钱买毒品，他常在街上行骗。
• Ken ves bartender off and hustles Joe out of the bar. 肯恩走开挥舞酒保而且离开酒吧乱挤活动乔。

18 authenticate   

vt.证明…为真，鉴定

参考例句：

• We would have to authenticate your relationship with the boy.我们必须证实一下您和那个孩子的关系。
• An expert was needed to authenticate the original Van Gogh painting from his imitation.这幅画是凡·高的真迹还是赝品,需由专家来鉴定。

19 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

20 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

21 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

22 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

23 advertising   

n.广告业；广告活动 a.广告的；广告业务的

参考例句：

• Can you give me any advice on getting into advertising? 你能指点我如何涉足广告业吗?
• The advertising campaign is aimed primarily at young people. 这个广告宣传运动主要是针对年轻人的。

24 brawls   

吵架，打架( brawl的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Whatever brawls disturb the street, there should be peace at home. 街上无论多么喧闹，家中应有宁静。
• I got into brawls in the country saloons near my farm. 我在离我农场不远的乡下沙龙里和别人大吵大闹。

25 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

26 subscription   

n.预订，预订费，亲笔签名，调配法，下标（处方）

参考例句：

• We paid a subscription of 5 pounds yearly.我们按年度缴纳5英镑的订阅费。
• Subscription selling bloomed splendidly.订阅销售量激增。

27 premium   

n.加付款；赠品；adj.高级的；售价高的

参考例句：

• You have to pay a premium for express delivery.寄快递你得付额外费用。
• Fresh water was at a premium after the reservoir was contaminated.在水库被污染之后，清水便因稀而贵了。

28 undo   

vt.解开，松开；取消，撤销

参考例句：

• His pride will undo him some day.他的傲慢总有一天会毁了他。
• I managed secretly to undo a corner of the parcel.我悄悄地设法解开了包裹的一角。

29 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

30 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

31 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。