They say it would follow naturally from Musk’s stated aim of permitting a broader range of speech on the platform-not to mention the pugnacious example he sets with his own Tweets. “If you take away restrictions and let Twitter fill with hate speech, people aren’t going to want to come there anymore.”Ĭoncerns that Twitter is on the cusp of a new era marked by a significant uptick in abuse and harassment are shared by other company insiders, investors, and advisers to Twitter’s moderation policy teams. “There’s an insane amount of abuse against people of color and gay people, and literal Nazis on the platform, we have to block out,” says the employee, who works on Twitter’s business development team. For one employee watching, Musk’s public comments had already made the likely consequences clear: Twitter appeared poised to loosen content moderation, making it a less welcoming place for both users and advertisers. At a Twitter company meeting Monday about the decision to accept Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition offer, CEO Parag Agrawal avoided speculating on how its new owner might change the platform.