The giant social media company, Twitter, has been involved in quite a load of controversy recently.

Following their ownership under Elon Musk, Twitter has turned down a new path towards private ownership.

Elon Musk bought Twitter in late October for a whopping $44 billion and Musk wants to revolutionize the platform by increasing the access to freedom of speech.

In turn, this would benefit many celebrities and controversial political figures such as Donald Trump and Kanye West who have both been suspended from their accounts due to their controversial takes and opinions, but are now back on the platform.

Rishi Patel ’25 said, “While I love Kanye’s music, his actions and the things he has said are inexcusable and should not be promoted on the internet.”

Many are concerned with Twitter, as Musk seems to use the platform to stir controversy and gain attention.

One of Musk’s tweets states, “Am considering taking new a nod towards Tesla private at $420. Funding secured” with 420 allegedly being marijuana, a recreational drug.

Furthermore, Musk exposes himself as he mentions funding for a buyout without any further details. This caused him to be fined $40 million.

Though Musk’s policy speech is what of freedom of Twitter is centered around, those who preach hate speech will be demonized, creating a degree of punishment for such actions.

However, hateful tweets will not be removed and can still be found through specific searching.

For instance, viral internet sensation, Andrew Tate had his ban lifted, despite many believing he exhorts misogynistic beliefs that can negatively influence many young men.

Tate stated in a tweet on Nov. 18, “Mastery is a funny thing. It’s almost as if, on a long enough time scale, losing simply isn’t an option. Such is the way of Wudan,” seemingly expressing his views of superiority to others around him.

Just recently, on Nov. 4, Musk cut roughly 50 percent of his headcount at Twitter, which is over 3,700 employees.

Musk claims these cuts were in order to repair his $44 billion debt from the company’s purchase and to direct Twitter on a positive path towards success.

Many see this abrupt dismissal as unjust, due to the recency of Musk’s decision.

Some believe not giving these workers enough time to find new jobs in order to finance their lifestyle and to keep themselves on their feet shows a poor character.

Musk’s new direction for Twitter comes with many benefits of increased freedom of speech, but also downsides such as a large reduction of Twitter’s workforce and the reinstatement of many controversial figures that many disagree with.