Elon Musk says you can be your true self on Twitter after Mark Zuckerberg calls for kindness on Threads
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- Elon Musk has told users that Twitter is a place where they can stay true to themselves.
- The platform has been facing increasing pressure from Meta's hot new app, Threads.
- In contrast, Zuckerberg has been emphasizing Threads as a "friendly" alternative to Twitter.
Elon Musk wants you to know you can be your true self on Twitter as the early success of Threads heaps pressure on the CEO.
Musk and Mark Zuckerberg have been taking shots at each other for a while, but their rivalry has ramped up since the Meta boss unveiled Threads. The platform, which is Zuckerberg's most direct attempt at emulating Twitter, has proved popular with users. This is largely due to its link to Instagram and access to the platform's more than 2 billion users.
Five days after the app launched, Threads passed the 100-million user mark, according to estimates from data-tracking platform Quiver Quantitative.
On Tuesday, in the wake of the app's initial success, Musk attempted to appeal to Twitter loyalists, tweeting: "You are free to be your true self here."
Musk hasn't been shy about his commitment to "free speech" since he acquired the platform back in October. The self-proclaimed "free speech absolutist" has faced criticism for allowing previously banned accounts back onto the platform and allowing the release of internal documents concerning past content-moderation decisions.
Zuckerberg, on the other hand, appears to be taking the opposite approach with Threads. Meta's vision for the platform is a friendly and kind place, according to statements from the CEO and from the app's official account. This, however, has not stopped some right-wingers flocking to the platform, who will no doubt look to be as provocative as possible to test the limits of the "friendly" atmosphere.
It remains to be seen how Threads will hold up when it comes to content moderation on the platform. In the past, Instagram has struggled to stop some users from leveraging features such as stories, links in bio, and post comment sections to bypass the rules.