Elon Musk bought Twitter on Monday, and soon users of the social-media platform, as well as regulators and lawmakers around the world, will find themselves in “unprecedented, uncharted territory,” says John Wihbey, associate professor of media innovation and technology at Northeastern.
Twitter’s board accepted Musk’s $44 billion offer for the company in a dramatic turn of events that comes less than two weeks after the billionaire announced his bid for the company, The Wall Street Journal reports. Market-watchers expected Twitter to reject the offer, as the company moved to prevent Musk from increasing his stake in the company after he announced his bid on April 14. But after Musk produced financing, Twitter appeared more interested.
If Musk takes the company private, he would have full control of highly granular individual data for hundreds of millions of Twitter users, including accounts run by national embassies, politicians, and government agencies.