In an absolute capitalist country like America, when anyone is selling the idea of life, justice, equality, or freedom then there must be some inherent cost to it. When Elon Musk bought Twitter, he argued that he would give an impartial platform with ‘absolute freedom of expression’. But the cost of ‘the freedom’ he never revealed.
Cost of Absolute Freedom
Recently, Twitter owner Elon Musk has hinted at the price tag for the use of accounts on Twitter. He has suggested charging some money from commercial or government users but not from casual users.
In a tweet, Musk said, “Ultimately, the downfall of the Freemasons was giving away their stone cutting services for nothing. Twitter will always be free for casual users, but maybe a slight cost for commercial/government users.”
Twitter will always be free for casual users, but maybe a slight cost for commercial/government users
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 3, 2022
Read More: Musk puts Tesla on line for his Twitter stunt
Boss of the Information Warfare
When Musk was financing his Twitter shopping after selling the Tesla stocks, everyone was wondering about the decision, as the revenue generation of Tesla is much more sustainable than Twitter. Further, due to the buyout, the prices of stocks were also going down as business sentiments were against the buyout.
But his hint of charging government or commercial users for the platform use gives an idea of what will be the revenue generation model of twitter ahead. In a way, the already monopolized social media will not only be a toy of Musk but will also come with some monetary cost. After the buyout, ‘the baby’ will be the boss of the world’s most used weapon of information warfare and will also mint money from this warfare game.
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Absoluteness brings the corrupt idea
After World War 2 when the world was healing, the American Arms Industries were saturated with the profits. Looking for the business opportunities to sell arms, Americans themselves manufactured the conflict and created a psychological fear of war in the eyes of other countries which ultimately increased the demand for arms & boosted the industries. Such manufactured price rise or demand rise is the modus-operandi of such absolute capitalist countries.
Similarly, when Elon Musk was pitching the idea of ‘absolute freedom’, he never revealed the cost of freedom. His announcement for charging for the service will generate a different set of problems, as the differentiated costing will revive the debate on net neutrality of internet users.
It is obvious that the service with some cost will also bring some administrative intervention at the level of the company. Further, with the differentiated cost and service, there will be some subjective meddling in the information flow which will ultimately dilute the idea of freedom of expression. In a way, the absolute idea of freedom will turn into the absolute idea of the business of freedom.
Read More: Musk Evolution – from the ‘Salesman of Billionaire’s Dream’ to ‘The Billionaire Fraud’
The option left with India
The frequent weaponization of monopolistic markets by these social media giants has always troubled countries like India. Either, the users are against the country or the platform itself is meddling. Without any accountability, they have kept the nation on the receiving end of their own agenda.
In recent times, India is aggressively pushing for its indigenous development of everything and we are moving ahead in almost all the sectors. But despite being one of the largest software developers and the market for it, we are not able to provide quality social media software for the world.
The Musk idea of charging a government or commercial organization is a reflection of their understanding that whatever they will do to its global platform, the world will have to accept. In furtherance of the monopolistic behavior, they are not only minting money but are also dictating the terms of policies and trying to become the government of the world.
