Elon Musk's 'X': The Unresolved Battle And What It Means For Us

In case you still need to get the memo, X is now the new name for the social media giant Twitter. Following the enormous takeover sum that the world's richest man, Elon Musk, paid for the website, he immediately changed its trajectory and business design. His first move was to change the name and colour scheme – essentially the foundation the site was initially built on.

The business magnate has spoken of his drive to turn X into the app for everything – from gaming to banking and everything in between. If you need to do anything online, he wants to ensure that X is the only place you need to go.

In theory, the idea sounds mesmerising and is bound to capture headlines. However, the practicality of executing this idea is entirely different.

Since he took over the site just over two years ago, it has become a severe headache for him. X has changed dramatically from a user perspective during his tenure—there are noticeably more ads, spam, and bots operating there. While Musk has tried to tackle this, but he has now become embroiled in a much bigger tussle—an outright ban of the site in Brazil. So, could this jeopardise the future of the website over the next decade or so, and what does it mean for the UK?

Adapting To A Mobile App-driven World

Between 2011 and 2017, Twitter became a massive player in the global media world. It quickly became the place for:

• Breaking news and trending topics.
• Short anecdotes and humorous quips.
• Companies looking to expand their digital media advertising ideas.
• A way to interact directly with celebrities.

The world had become primarily digital in the mid-2000s, and the tide was turning. We started using our phones for everything from grocery shopping to casino gaming, and Facebook and Instagram dominated the social media sphere with their mobile apps.

However, their desktop-driven platforms were harnessing the most activity via their websites. Although live casino operators showed just how much potential lies ahead for companies championing the use of mobile apps for their services, they remained a minor part of the digital casino world. Given Twitter's design and mechanics, this is where it started to pick up momentum and visibility as a prominent social media site.

Musk The Monolith

Regardless of what you may think of Elon Musk, spending $44 billion on anything certainly gives people the right to manage the business as they see fit. Conversely, this doesn't mean everyone has to agree with how he's running things or how the broader public perceives the site.

One of the biggest problems with X is that university professors and esteemed academics have the same platform and number of characters available as those who often need help understanding the topic they're commenting on.

While nobody can strongly argue against free speech, there must be a distinction between free speech and outright offensive language. The definition of offensive language can depend entirely on who you ask; this is where it becomes a grey area and a hot topic of discussion. Something I might find offensive might not offend you in the slightest, and vice versa. Policing something like this is enormously complex.

Musk's monolithic presence raises questions about how a social media CEO should operate in the modern age, which no doubt caused the recent friction and resistance he's getting from the Brazilian Supreme Court.

Brazil Ban

Brazil has taken a hardline stance against X's presence in their country. Some believe it is an overreach, while others believe X needs to face better regulatory scrutiny. Five Supreme Court judges in Brazil have accused the business tycoon of operating as a supranational entity with a flagrant disregard for Brazil as a sovereign nation.

There's a balance between free speech and not having a platform that actively promotes hatred, and how the Brazil and X battle plays out over the next year or two will be a great indicator of what's in store for Musk's new social media project, which has already experienced hefty losses.

The standoff between Musk and Brazil will likely continue for a while. Crucially, this isn't a problem Musk can brush under the carpet. Excluding the US, Brazil is one of the top five markets for the California-based company, with over 20 million users. This is a significant financial hit, and it will cost even more money for Musk to resolve the compliance issues he is facing with the Brazilian Supreme Court.

Final Thoughts

We live in a world in which social media has become a disruptive innovation. This has transformed the media and forced newspapers and many TV news outlets much further down the pecking order.

Given the speed of social media's rise, regulators have scrambled to legislate these websites as effectively as possible. The multinational presence of social media sites has proved to be a challenge for regulators and those who run these huge companies.

This is a new chapter now that a country the size of Brazil has banned X from operating in its country for failing to comply with regulatory and compliance requests.

However, it is a blueprint for other countries already developing a frosty relationship with South Africa because of how he runs Twitter. He is far more hands-on than his predecessor, but since usage continues to drop, Musk will have to make some big decisions about the site's direction soon.

Whether you agree or disagree with his views, Musk's polarising opinions and huge Twitter platform mean that Brazil won't be the last country to take affront to his divisive opinions and how he operates the site. It'll be intriguing to see what transpires and what it could mean for us here in the UK over the next few years.