Russia says it ‘will wait and see’ what Elon Musk does to Twitter after billionaire promises ‘free speech’ on the app
ELON Musk's tentative acquisition of Twitter is having global repercussions as Russia weighs whether to reinstate the platform's use in the country.
"Let's see what will happen under the new owner," Dmitry Peskov, a diplomat representing The Kremlin, told reporters.
Musk has been more than blunt regarding his approach to censorship.
He's called himself a "free speech absolutist" and many employees are concerned with the expected rollback of their moderation techniques.
Relations between Russia and Twitter started to sour in 2017 when the platform from Kremlin-backed networks - Twitter had determined that Russian media played a controversial hand in the 2016 Presidential election and took action.
“Russia’s attitude towards this company is based on the actions of this company, on the censorship of this company...on the distortion of information, on the manipulation of information," Peskov said, describing the antagonism Russian leaders feel toward Twitter.
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Musk acting on his broad interpretation of free speech and fundamentally altering Twitter's policies could soften Russia's harsh judgment - but The Kremlin remains pessimistic of change.
"The question is whether a truly fully-fledged free palette of different points of view is now possible in Western social networks," quoted Peskov as saying. "We doubt this."
Musk has acted in the interests of Ukraine since the conflict began, perhaps to the angst of the Russians - he saw to the quick delivery of Starlink terminals to keep the internet open to the Ukrainian people but Russian media on those servers.
Peskov, on the other hand, is a Specially Designated National that is sanctioned by the White House - says Peskov's assets are blocked, and "U.S. persons are generally prohibited from dealing with [him]."
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The Biden administration Peskov "the lead propagandist and spokesperson of the Russian Federation."
Meanwhile, the sale of Twitter to Musk is not final.
The deal includes a two-way in which the party that backs out owes the other $1billion.
The terms explicitly state that "any acts of God, force majeure events, natural disasters, terrorism, cyberattack, data breach, armed hostilities" and other calamities are not justifiable causes for either side to renege on the agreement.
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The deal is expected to take about three to six months to finalize, according to .
In the end, Musk wants Twitter, not another billion dollars.
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