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Elon Musk buying Twitter for an estimated $44 billion
FOX 26 Reporter Matthew Seedorff has reaction after the announcement that Elon Musk is buying Twitter for an estimated $44 billion.
HOUSTON - Reaction continues to pour in after Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, purchased Twitter for $44 billion.
"Having a public platform that is maximally trusted [and] broadly inclusive is extremely important to the future of civilization," said Musk in a recent interview with Ted 2022.
RELATED: Elon Musk buys Twitter in $44 billion deal
In tweets on Monday, Musk listed several possible changes to Twitter making algorithms open source, defeating spambots, and authenticating all humans.
"I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means," said Musk on Twitter.
FOX 26 asked viewers how the feel about Musk taking over Twitter.
"I don’t know what’s going to happen with all that," said one viewer. "He’s already a rich guy, what else does he need?"
"I’m hoping he’s going to make it as he says he’s going to, the free speech platform," said another viewer."
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According to a professor at the University of Houston, most users initially likely won’t notice major changers on the social media platform. However, there could be more significant changes over the next few years.
"Elon Musk is a game changer in a lot of ways," said Jennifer Vardeman from the University of Houston. "Whether you love him or hate him, Elon Musk has made a huge impact in terms of wanting to change industries of all kinds. He’s a maverick. I think he enjoys being in that space. This really was not a surprise. I’m interested to see where it’s going to go."
Republican politicians across the country posted to Twitter reacting to Musk’s acquisition.
"Twitter openly censors speech based on political ideologies and makes a mockery of our Constitutional liberties," tweeted Senator Ted Cruz. "If Elon Musk can turn that around to actually protect free speech and encourage open discourse, Twitter’s full potential will be unlocked."
"Elon Musk, bring Twitter to Texas to join Tesla, SpaceX & the Boring Company," tweeted Governor Greg Abbott.
"Twitter is really important," said Robert Stein, a political science professor at Rice University. "Facebook is very important. Candidates use it. What a lot of politicians are worrying about is [Twitter moving to] the wrong hands. It depends what end of the political spectrum you’re on. Twitter can be a great boom, or great bane to your existence."
Former President Donald Trump is still banned from using Twitter. Musk hasn’t said if the ban would be removed. However, Trump told FOX News on Monday that he doesn’t plan to return to Twitter.
The Twitter deal with Musk is expected to be completed in 2022.