By Onyeka Oruonyehu

Twitter owner and South African-born billionaire who acquired the popular social media company in October 2022 for $44 billion after he spent months trying to back out of the agreement have officially changed the company's famous bird logo to an "X" as part of a sweeping rebrand. Twitter is now to be known as X. 

On October 27, 2022, Elon Musk tweeted, "The bird is freed," as a celebratory endnote to his acquisition of Twitter. Musk began buying company shares in January 2022, becoming its largest shareholder by April with a 9.1 percent stake. Less than a year after Musk became the owner of Twitter, the company has witnessed more sweeping changes than ever since it was formed. 

In Africa, technology and internet access have been growing steadily across the continent, with many countries experiencing increased internet penetration and mobile phone usage. Social media platforms like Twitter have gained popularity among Africans, providing communication, networking, and information sharing. Twitter now plays a central place in government and the sustenance of democracy on the continent.

Africa and Twitter under Elon Musk

Before Musk took over, Twitter announced in April 2021 it was expanding its physical presence to Africa with an office in Ghana. "Today, in line with our growth strategy, we're excited to announce that we are now actively building a team in Ghana. To truly serve the public conversation, we must be more immersed in the vibrant communities that drive the conversations taking place every day across the African continent." Part of the statement read.

While it is possible to analyse what the change in ownership means for the West, it is harder to ascertain for Africa because of how new this development is on the continent. However, what is certain is that these changes will affect Africa negatively or positively. The billionaire tried to assuage fears about mass layoffs, a "free speech-above-all" mindset, and worries that Twitter might devolve into a hotbed of hatred and trolling by reaching out to activists and advertisers in the United States. However, Musk remained silent in nations throughout Asia, Latin America,, and Africa.

As part of new owner Elon Musk's cost-cutting efforts, Twitter fired nearly all of the staff at its only office in Africa. While this was a global decision that affected even staff at its head office in the United States, there is no information on how many of the African staff are left at Twitter Ghana, which is also the headquarters of its operations in Africa. But, with most of the management gone, there are widespread speculations that Musk intends to close down Twitter's operations on the continent.

With Elon as the new owner of Twitter, stakeholders believe standards will drop and the spread of harmful content and his plan to dissolve the so-called censorship he has criticized in the past. His planned "Content Moderation Council" is yet to fall through, and he has changed how users are verified on the platform. 

He offered an $8 per month verification process for the abstract blue Twitter check mark to replace the traditional merit-based process that rewarded users based on popularity and prominence in a particular field such as journalism, academia, or entertainment. This new verification process failed miserably and was pulled as users created fake accounts for companies and political leaders.

Africa is prone to fake news, misinformation and malign influences, which have become endemic on the continent; with Musk's new rules, there are also concerns that Twitter's new policies and algorithm, which gives more reach to verified accounts, are likely to affect efforts to curb the spread of misinformation on the continent.

On the continent, speech is not free; Twitter has played a significant role in keeping democracy and free speech. Social media provides new platforms for citizens to engage in political discourse and democratic participation.

On January 25, 2011, tens of thousands of Egyptians protested in Egyptian cities, calling for Hosni Mubarak's three-decade-long rule to end. They formed a relationship that spurred the protests as they exchanged firsthand images and videos on Twitter and planned their activities on Facebook.

By evening, Twitter was disabled and Facebook followed suit the next day. Five days later, the authorities cut off Egypt from the rest of the world's internet after realizing that the demonstrators were still organizing online. 

Just a decade after the Egyptian experience, young Nigerians used social media with Twitter leading to organise and demand an end to a rogue unit of the Nigerian Police Force, known as the #EndSARs protests.   

Already, Musk's Twitter takeover may impact the work of African journalists who were beneficiaries of merit blue check verification before Musk's takeover. 

While Twitter (now X) former owner Jack Dorsey had fallen in love with the continent after exploring Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa, said that he was sad that his tour ended, not much can be said about Musk even with his South African roots. 

Finally, recent changes to and at Twitter have collectively disrupted marginalized people's ability to build meaningful relationships, create insightful conversations to discuss strategies for promoting equality, and defend themselves from trauma and hate speech. As many users have posited, the X-man is interested in making money. Why would he go against the government?"