— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 8, 2024 The clips prompted the world’s richest man to embark on his takeover of Twitter, he said, arguing that the purchase was motivated by a desire to strip the platform of “censorship” and “let the marketplace of ideas win.” “When I felt the walls of censorship closing in, I was like, ‘OK, I gotta do something.’ And the thing I can do is acquire Twitter and make it a bastion of free speech,” Musk continued. Contrary to Musk’s assessment, Twitter’s own analysis of its algorithm found in 2021 that right-wing politicians and media perspectives were being amplified over left-wing ones. Since Musk bought the company for $44 billion in 2022, that right-wing bias has only grown, with formerly suspended accounts reinstated and a litany of anti-“woke” conspiracy theories allowed to flourish. Millions have departed the platform since Musk’s takeover and its market value has declined by 80 percent. Elon Musk made a hand gesture at a Trump event after the president’s inauguration that many people thought resembled a Nazi salute. Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images Musk biographer Walter Isaacson has previously made the argument that the eternally online Musk was radicalized by Twitter. His shift from Obama-donating moderate to seig-heiling DOGE director over the course of three years can be attributed to the transition of his daughter Vivian, who tweeted in 2022, “I no longer live with or wish to be related to my biological father in any way, shape or form.” “My son, Xavier, died,” Musk tweeted earlier this year. “He was killed by the woke mind virus. Now, the woke mind virus will die”. While Musk’s radicalization may have more than one root, the influence of the social media platform—which has been found to be the biggest spreader of disinformation online—appears to be where it all began. Jack Revell