{"id":631685,"date":"2022-04-29T17:24:06","date_gmt":"2022-04-29T17:24:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/radiofree.asia\/?guid=417c5693f8232743a9825fa1aa9007e7"},"modified":"2022-04-29T17:24:06","modified_gmt":"2022-04-29T17:24:06","slug":"musks-dangerous-twitter-offer-makes-the-case-for-a-wealth-tax-warren-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2022\/04\/29\/musks-dangerous-twitter-offer-makes-the-case-for-a-wealth-tax-warren-says\/","title":{"rendered":"Musk\u2019s \u201cDangerous\u201d Twitter Offer Makes the Case for a Wealth Tax, Warren Says"},"content":{"rendered":"

As Elon Musk shores up $44 billion to buy Twitter, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) is warning that the potential purchase could have major consequences for U.S. democracy.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an interview <\/span>with <\/span>MSNBC<\/span><\/i> on Thursday<\/span><\/a>, Warren said that Musk\u2019s offer to buy Twitter, which Twitter <\/span>agreed to earlier this week<\/span><\/a>, makes the case that the country needs to \u201cmake two big changes\u201d to its tax code and regulation of Big Tech.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe first one is we need a wealth tax in America. And let\u2019s talk about how Elon\u2019s purchase here was <\/span>subsidized by tens of millions of people<\/span><\/a> who\u2019ve paid their taxes every year,\u201d she said. \u201cThe second part is we need rules of the road for Big Tech.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed, the only reason that Musk has the funds \u2014 or <\/span>the financial leverage<\/span><\/a> \u2014 to buy Twitter is because he has been allowed to accumulate an <\/span>astounding amount of wealth<\/span><\/a> over the course of the pandemic. In March of 2020, he was worth a little more than half of his $44 billion offer. Over the course of just two years, however, his wealth has skyrocketed by 1080 percent, largely tax-free.<\/span><\/p>\n

Warren went on to say that she believes the most alarming thing about Musk\u2019s offer isn\u2019t necessarily his <\/span>right-wing politics<\/span><\/a>, but the implications about who is allowed to make decisions surrounding a platform that millions of Americans use to communicate. \u201cUltimately what all this boils down to is power. Who\u2019s going to have the power in our country?\u201d she asked. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAre we going to make decisions as a democracy or is this going to be Elon Musk all by himself, off in a room, a bazillionaire, who just plays by his own set of rules? That\u2019s really what\u2019s at stake here,\u201d she said, later adding that \u201cit\u2019s about one person making all of the decisions about how tens of millions of people will have an opportunity to communicate with each other.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Though lawmakers have passed <\/span>some regulations<\/span><\/a> on Big Tech in attempts to rein in corporations, Warren says that the industry still lacks a set of regulations that could help increase competition and allow for more user freedom. While phone calls can be made to any phone owner, regardless of what network they use, the millions of Twitter or other social media users are constrained to only being able to communicate with other users of the same platform, she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe need rules so that you can leave the Twitter platform and go to a competitor\u2019s platform and still be able to reach each other. You have rules like that, then you actually have some competition,\u201d she said. \u201cRules of the road could help facilitate that kind of competition and frankly break the stranglehold of someone like Elon Musk coming in and just owning the whole thing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Unlike if Musk were to buy a company that produces soap or cars, Warren emphasized that buying Twitter is about buying influence and power. Earlier this week, Warren tweeted that even just the fact that this kind of purchase could go through without any stopgaps is an indication that the country needs stronger regulations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOne billionaire \u2014 whose estimated net worth has gotten about 10 times larger since the start of the pandemic \u2014 is about to have the power to decide how millions of people can communicate with each other,\u201d <\/span>she wrote<\/span><\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s dangerous for our democracy to have so much power in so few hands.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Social media and political experts have also sounded the alarm about Musk\u2019s potential purchase, noting that there is already <\/span>a long list<\/span><\/a> of billionaires who own major communication-related entities, like Jeff Bezos\u2019s ownership of <\/span>The Washington Post<\/span><\/i>, for example. <\/span><\/p>\n

Musk claims to be a \u201c<\/span>free speech absolutist<\/span><\/a>,\u201d meaning <\/span>in theory<\/span><\/a> that users who regularly encourage bigoted harassment, violence, and otherwise would remain on the platform, as well as users who spread vast amounts of disinformation. Even just the news of his purchase appears <\/span>to have driven<\/span><\/a> tens of thousands of far right users to the platform. Unregulated internet forums are <\/span>a breeding ground for fascists<\/span><\/a>; platforms like 4chan and 8chan, which prided themselves on having no content moderation, have <\/span>been linked to<\/span><\/a> hate crimes and mass murders.<\/span><\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on Latest - Truthout<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cUltimately what all this boils down to is power. Who\u2019s going to have the power in our country?\u201d Senator Warren said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1459,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12503,1704,5943,4116,4,739,5944],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631685"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1459"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631685"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631685\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":631686,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631685\/revisions\/631686"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631685"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631685"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631685"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}