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Tesla CEO Elon Musk has owned Twitter for less than a day and has already initiated drastic changes to the company. Some experts are wondering if Musk's actions could influence the midterm elections.
Musk finalized his purchase of the social media platform Thursday after months of negotiations with the company. Musk has rumored firing a large swath of Twitter's staff and intends to abolish the lifelong bans the company previously initiated, allowing individuals such as former President Donald Trump to return to the social media platform. Some conservatives have criticized Twitter by alleging the platform censors right-wing views, and now that Musk has indicated plans to lessen the restrictions, it is unclear how candidates will use the platform to their benefit.
Several experts told Newsweek they believed that the sale happened too close to the midterm elections—which are less than two weeks away—to truly influence any races.
One political strategist told Newsweek that although "elite Democrats" might view the Musk deal as an upset to the Democratic Party, many Democratic voters are likely to have a more neutral or positive view of the Twitter sale.
"If you can have two perspectives on Twitter, that's actually a good thing," said Oren Levin-Waldman, a labor market demographic analyst at PoliticalVIP. "It furthers democracy more than one party dominating."
Michael Ferguson, a PoliticalVIP consultant, told Newsweek that the action has "little to no impact" on the midterm elections.
"I think you are going to have a group of the population who are not happy with this, although I don't believe those individuals would have favored Republican candidates anyway," Ferguson said. "At the same time, those happy with this decision are more likely to support Republican candidates."
Ferguson said early voting is already taking place, and being so close to Election Day, most voters have already made up their minds.
"Although there remains a portion of the population that is undecided, I'm not sure Twitter and people now being able to express themselves more freely than they have previously are going to impact the election in any way," Ferguson said.
Leeza Garber, a cybersecurity attorney and lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, agrees that it may be too close to the midterms for Musk's actions to have any lasting effect, but she's more concerned about how the SpaceX founder plans to handle misinformation on the site. Since Musk has hinted at firing 75 percent of Twitter staff, Garber wonders where he will source content moderators to ensure misinformation doesn't spread.
"We know he's looking internally [at his other companies] to move people around, but what kind of experience do they have?" she said. "Does he appreciate what kind of experience one needs to be a content moderator?"
Jennifer Stromer-Galley, a professor in the School of Informatics at Syracuse University, said Musk's influence might impact other elections, such as the 2024 presidential election.
"Twitter has had a ban on political ads for example, and we are not sure what he will do on that front," Stromer-Galley told Newsweek. "Given that the midterms are in just a week and a half, whatever platform changes that might occur between now and Election Day, I don't expect significant effect on any electoral outcomes or messaging."
About the writer
Anna Skinner is a Newsweek senior reporter based in Indianapolis. Her focus is reporting on the climate, environment and weather ... Read more