How the world reacted to $43 billion Twitter bid by Musk: ‘frightened by the…’

Tesla chief Elon Musk launched a hostile takeover effort for Twitter on Thursday, insisting the platform needs to be transformed but acknowledging his $43-billion bid may fail.

The speculation about the Tesla CEO Elon Musk's interest in taking over Twitter was always there once the billionaire investor refused a seat on the board, but not many had expected that the offer would come this soon. Musk's shock offer to buy Twitter and take it private drew mixed reactions as the executive, who describes himself as a free-speech absolutist, advocates fewer limits on the type of content posted on the micro-blogging platform.

Many fear a possible lack of accountability and the impact of the social media giant on democracies in case of minimal moderation as they have been struggling to contain hate speech.

"Twitter is too important to be owned and controlled by a single person," tweeted venture capitalist Fred Wilson. "The opposite should be happening. Twitter should be decentralized."

"I am frightened by the impact on society and politics if Elon Musk acquires Twitter," tweeted Max Boot, a Washington Post columnist.

"He seems to believe that on social media anything goes. For democracy to survive, we need more content moderation, not less," Boot added.