Twitter-Elon Musk news: Tesla boss tells ‘worst critics’ to stay on Twitter as platform confirms takeover

Elon Musk has sent his first tweet after reaching an agreement to buy Twitter for around $44bn.

The company’s new owner posted the phrase “Yes!!!” surrounded by red hearts, shooting stars and rocket ship emojis, above his statement on the deal.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told her Monday press briefing that she was “not going to comment on a specific transition” but reiterated that the administration continues to believe that “no matter who owns or runs Twitter, the president has long been concerned about the power of large social media platforms” and stressed that “tech platforms must be held accountable for the harms they cause.”

She pointed to bipartisan interest in Congress for antitrust measures and reforming section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

And she added: “Our concerns are not new. We’ve long talked about, and the president has long talked about, the powers of social media platforms … to spread misinformation, disinformation [and] the need for these platforms to be held accountable.”

Twitter has announced that the social media company will be sold to Tesla titan Elon Musk for around $44bn.

Mr Musk will pay $54.20 cash per share for the San Francisco-based company, which will now be taken private after days of intense negotiations between the entrepreneur and the platform’s board.

More details below.

Tesla CEO and billionaire-personality Elon Musk has come one step closer to taking control of America’s most hotly debated social-media platform, Twitter, following his $46.bn (£36.6bn) bid for the San Fransisco-based firm.

Ahead of an expected announcement from Twitter of Musk’s takeover on Monday, The Independent has listed the billionaire’s most popular and controversial tweets from his 12 years and 10 months on the site, featuring Covid-19, the climate crisis and more.

Twitter’s board announces that the company will be sold to Elon Musk for around $44bn.

Elon Musk has claimed that he wants to stay “out of politics” but has made numerous criticisms of the US government.

The 50-year-old’s exact politics can be hard to pin down. He has donated often to both Democrats and Republicans while variously declaring himself a “moderate”, a “socialist”, and “socially liberal and fiscally conservative”.

According to data gathered by the non-profit lobbying watchdog Open Secrets, Elon Musk has given a total of $1.2m to politicians, parties, political action committees (PACs), and referendum campaigns since 2002.

That money went almost equally to Democrats, with $542,000, and Republicans, with $574,500, with another $85,000 going to two broadly left-wing referendum campaigns in California. The balance has fluctuated over the years: in 2006, 2013 and 2017 he donated overwhelmingly to Republicans, while in 2015 he gave exclusively to Democrats.

Supporters of former president Donald Trump who are cheering Elon Musk’s bid to buy Twitter as a sign that the ex-president’s permanent ban from the platform may be lifted under new ownership will be disappointed to hear that he has no plans to return to the social network that helped fuel his unprecedented rise to the presidency.

Andrew Feinberg has the story.

Throughout Twitter’s often controversial existence, former CEO Jack Dorsey has been the face and essential identity of the company.

Mr Dorsey, who came to the tech world after twice dropping out of university and becoming a certified masseuse, founded the social media platform in 2006 with Noah Glass, Biz Stone and Evan Williams.

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Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene was among those on the right celebrating what looks to be Elon Musk’s impending takeover of Twitter on Monday.

The Georgia representative saw her personal account permanently banned from the site on 2 January of this year after she repeatedly used the account to share false or easily disprovable claims about Covid-19, includin a blatantly false assertion that the Covid-19 vaccine was dangerous and leading to thousands of deaths in the US.

John Bowden has more details.

Mr Musk claims he wants to push Twitter to allow more free speech. But really he’s just changing the editorial stance of a private company to publish more conservative speech, like Fox taking over the New York Times.

Noah Berlatsky has more.