(Reuters) – In the run-up to Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk’s public disclosure of a $3 billion stake in Twitter, the billionaire had criticized the microblogging site for failing to adhere to free speech principles and said he was contemplating building a new social media platform.
The world’s richest person in the past months has said he is a free speech absolutist, while being vocal against Web3, a term for a utopian version of the internet that is decentralized and whose commercial backbone is the non-fungible tokens (NFT).
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and Musk, though active proponents of cryptocurrencies, share skepticism around the metaverse, NFTs and Web3, what some deem to be the evolution of the internet.
From ridiculing Twitter’s new CEO to calling NFT profile pictures “annoying”, here’s a list of Musk’s tweets and comments on Twitter, Web3, NFTs and free speech.
Date Tweet
March 15, Musk tweeted, “I’m selling this song about NFTs as an
2021 NFT.” The tweet included a song with the lyrics – “NFT for
your vanity. Computers never sleep. It’s verified. It’s
guaranteed.” The next day, he tweeted: “Actually, doesn’t
feel quite right selling this. Will pass.”
Dec. 1, Musk posted a meme comparing new Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal
2021 with Joseph Stalin
Dec. 2, “Web3 sounds like bs”, said Musk, responding to a thread
2021 by OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman
Dec. 21, Musk mocked the Web3 concept, in a tweet, he said, “Has
2021 anyone seen web3? I can’t find it.”
Jan. 21, In a Twitter thread calling the NFT profile picture
2022 feature annoying, Musk said, “Twitter is spending
engineering resources on this bs while crypto scammers are
throwing a spambot block party in every thread!?”
Feb. 22, Musk, known for creating original memes, tweeted an image
2022 mocking the progress of the world wide web, ridiculing
Web3.
March 5, In a tweet claiming some governments asked Starlink to
2022 block Russian news sources, Musk said, “Sorry to be a free
speech absolutist.”
March 24, Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said in a quote tweet, “The
2022 choice of which algorithm to use (or not) should be open
to everyone”
March 24, Musk asked in a poll if Twitter’s algorithm should be open
2022 source.
March 26, Musk said Twitter failing to adhere to free speech
2022 principles fundamentally undermines democracy and asked if
a new platform was needed.
April 4, In his first tweet since the disclosure of his stake in
2022 Twitter, he said, “Oh hi lol”
(Reporting by Akash Sriram and Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
