Big changes are underway at Twitter after Elon Musk's takeover, and those changes are raising concerns about impacts on democracy, according to media experts on Greater Boston.
Archon Fung, director of the Ash Center for Democratic Governance and Innovation at Harvard Kennedy School said that from the beginning, the platform was not ideal.
"Twitter was never an ideal public square to begin with," he said. If Musk is using Twitter to advance his political views and maximize profits, it is "terrible for democracy," according to Fung.
Fung said he's worried that Twitter is downsizing its content management teams tasked with minimizing violence, hate speech and misinformation. He said Musk and other social network owners should recognize their responsibility to the public and pay a 1% tax on all their profit to help fund fact-based journalism.
Michelle Amazeen, director of the Communication Research Center at Boston University, questioned Musk's business strategy. She said it appears that Musk thinks Twitter isn't being used properly to generate profit, so he's adding additional money-makers such as requiring payment to be verified.
Amazeen said Musk should gather a diverse advisory board to help him navigate Twitter's next steps.
Watch: Upheaval at Twitter under Musk could further hurt already-troubled democracy
