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What Elon Musk's $44 billion purchase of Twitter may mean for the company and free speech - YouTube
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Judy: Now to our other lead
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story.
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Business entrepreneur Elon Musk
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and Twitter announced a $44
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billion deal today for musk to
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buy the company and take it
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over.
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The deal reportedly is the
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largest to take a public company
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private in at least two decades.
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It's also led to major concerns
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about how musk, who is one of
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the world's richest men, will
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handle questions of extremist
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content and free speech.
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As Stephanie sy tells us, musk
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says he has plans to change
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Twitter's approach and how it
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operates.
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Stephanie: Duty, when -- Judy,
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when Elon Musk first made his
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bid about two weeks ago, many
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were not sure how seriously to
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treat his offer.
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But after a surprising weekend
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of negotiations, Twitters board
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accepted the offer today.
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Musk has made it clear
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repeatedly he does not agree
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with all of Twitter's previous
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bans on users for posting
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content that might be considered
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hateful or used to incite
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violence.
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In announcing the deal, musk
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wrote today, "Free speech is the
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bedrock of a functioning
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democracy, and Twitter is the
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digital town square where
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matters vital to the future of
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humanity are debated."
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For a look at some important
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questions, I am joined by the
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Washington post silicon valley
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correspondent Elizabeth dwoskin.
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Thank you for joining the
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newshour.
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Elon Musk has put a good chunk
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of his net worth into this bid
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for Twitter but he has made it
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clear this was never about
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business.
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What is it about?
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Elizabeth: Yes, he said it is
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not about money, repeatedly.
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I think you have to take him at
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his word.
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In the last year, he has become
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fairly obsessed with talking
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about ideas about free speech.
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And the digital town square and
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the power of platforms like
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Twitter.
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And he wants to control that.
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And I will also put in that he
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is probably in the set -- he is
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probably this happiest marketer
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in the world.
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This is also buying his own
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marketing machine.
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Stephanie: But ownership, as you
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know, is not the same thing as
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control.
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On the free-speech issue, today,
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Elon Musk tweeted "I hope that
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even my worst critics remain on
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Twitter, because that is what
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free-speech means."
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Is it fair to assume that Elon
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Musk is going to try to shed all
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constraints on legal free-speech
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on Twitter?
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Stephanie: I mean --
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Elizabeth: I mean, he said that.
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He said Twitter should follow
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the letter of the law and free
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speech in the U.S., which we all
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know is the first amendment,
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which basically allows huge
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latitude for free speech, short
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of direct calls for violence.
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He has said that, and I just got
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off listening in on a town hall
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on Twitter, within Twitter,
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employees, talking about it
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right now at Twitter.
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And what the employees
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themselves are extremely worried
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that he is going to strip the
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company of the safeguards and
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protections against
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misinformation and hate speech
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that the company has worked to
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build over the last five or so
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years.
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People working there are really
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worried about that, and some are
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tweeting crying emojis right
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now.
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Stephanie: He is not only going
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to have to be accountable to his
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employees, now that he is the
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owner of Twitter.
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Won't he also have to go through
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the same tight wire act of not
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losing users and advertisers?
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Isn't that, to some degree,
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accountability?
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Elizabeth: I think so.
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One of the questions asked at
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the town hall, is it seems when
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he takes the company private,
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there might not be a board of
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directors.
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People were asking, what kind of
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-- what kind of accountability
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will there be on musk if he
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wants to reinstate trump's
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account, for example, or allow
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images of ISIS beheadings?
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There has been terrible things
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online where tech companies have
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her -- have worked hard to get
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rid of.
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There has been reporting today
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that advertisers themselves,
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think about it, if you are a big
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advertiser of toothpaste, do you
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want your ads, or Pepsi, do you
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want your ad showing up next to
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a child being raped?
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For an ISIS beheading?
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These are horrible things these
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companies work hard to get rid
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of and have rules about.
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Yes, they make tons of mistakes,
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but stripping them of the rules
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would be hard, would be very
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hard for advertisers.
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Musk has expressed skepticism of
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the advertising business model,
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and actually there is no clear
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answer on whether he would keep
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that on Twitter once it goes
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private.
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Stephanie: As you know, Twitter
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under jack Dorsey made the
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decision to ban president trump
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after the January 6 capital
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assault and others, like
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Marjorie Taylor Greene have been
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banned as well for spreading
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false information.
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Mr. Trump said he is not
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planning to go back on Twitter.
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Has musk indicated he will
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restore accounts of people who
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have been deplatformed, is what
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they say in the twitterverse?
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Elizabeth: He said the
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deplatforming had gone too far.
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He even said that after January
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6, during the insurrection.
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I thought that was interesting
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at the time.
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Here is a moment in America
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society when the whole tech
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industry is saying, we are going
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to blanket ban not just trump,
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but many of his followers as
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well that were promoting the
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insurrection, and Elon Musk is
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going the other way saying, tech
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companies are going to regret
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the decisions they made around
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content moderation.
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That is one of the things that
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gives Twitter employees pause,
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and a lot of observers pause as
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well about what he might do.
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He certainly has not come out
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and said, I am going to restore
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trump.
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But people are reading between
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the tea leaves and interestingly
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enough, that question was not
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answered in today's town hall.
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Stephanie: Twitter has struggled
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with issues like trolls and bots
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and bad actors gaming and
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manipulating the platform.
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One thing musk said today he
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will do to build trust in the
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platform is "Authenticate all
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humans."
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I think something only Elon Musk
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would say.
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Are you hearing any positive
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reaction to his ability to
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potentially solve some of
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Twitter's real problems with his
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design acumen?
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Elizabeth: Overall, the response
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I have heard is negative.
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But I always say the caveat of,
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I don't have a crystal ball into
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every Twitter employee's minds.
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I may be hearing from the people
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who are more upset.
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Got to hold that as a
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possibility.
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I do think that some people --
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look, Elon Musk is seen, for all
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of his wildness and firebrand
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ways, he is a visionary leader
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and brilliant.
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Lots of people in the tech world
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and outside of him -- outside of
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it think of him that way.
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That is what the Twitter's
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leadership has tried to
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emphasize.
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Here is a person who can bring
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value to Twitter.
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One of the things the CEO said
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to the employees today, is he
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said we all think of Twitter as
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this place, this platform that
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has this unrealized potential.
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Because it is used by power
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influencers but never gained the
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widespread social acceptance of
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a tiktok or a Facebook or
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YouTube.
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I'm sorry, the widespread use,
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the level of users or profits.
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I think he was meaning exactly
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that to employees.
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Look at what Elon Musk could
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bring.
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But I don't know if people will
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be assured by that.
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I think they have a lot to lose.
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Stephanie: Yeah.
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Elizabeth, who reports in
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silicon valley for the
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Washington post, thank you.
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Elizabeth: Thanks for having me.
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