Seeking 'healthy' debate, Musk nears Twitter deal finish line

Elon Musk's planned takeover of Twitter has dismayed activists who fear a surge in harassment and misinformation

Elon Musk said he is acquiring Twitter to enable 'healthy' debate on a wide range of ideas and counter social media 'echo chambers'

Closing in on his Twitter megadeal, Elon Musk said Thursday his goal is to enable "healthy" debate of ideas and counter the tendency of social media to splinter into partisan "echo chambers."

In a message meant to reassure jittery Twitter advertisers on the eve of a court-imposed deadline to finalize the deal, Musk said he would work with marketers to "build something extraordinary together."

The planned takeover has dismayed activists who fear a surge in harassment and misinformation under the unpredictable Musk, who himself is known for trolling other Twitter users.

The Tesla boss's on-again, off-again acquisition of the platform appeared to be entering its final phase after a Delaware judge paused litigation on October 6 on Twitter's suit against Musk after he previously walked away from the deal.

A seemingly confident Musk even shared a picture of himself Thursday socializing at a coffee bar at Twitter headquarters.

Shares of Twitter late Thursday were trading just shy of the $54.20 purchase price in Musk's deal.

- 'Chief Twit' -

Twitter in turn sought to prove Musk, who also heads aerospace firm SpaceX, was contriving excuses to walk away simply because he changed his mind.

Fresh questions about the deal and Twitter's future surfaced last week following reports Musk planned deep staff cuts.

The South African-born entrepreneur cuts a polarizing figure in American business.

In his latest statement Thursday, Musk said much of the public speculation about his intentions in the deal had been "wrong" as he insisted his goals were noble.

"I did so with humility, recognizing that failure in pursuing this goal, despite our best efforts, is a very real possibility."

"Low relevancy ads are spam, but highly relevant ads are actually content!" he said.

"Even slightly loosening content moderation on the platform is sure to spook advertisers, many of whom already find Twitter's brand safety tools to be lacking compared with other social platforms," Enberg said.

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