Elon Musk says his attempts to buy Twitter are for the benefit of civilisation.
The world's richest man has launched a $41 billion takeover bid for the social media giant and is adamant that it is not an economic move.
Speaking at TED conference in Vancouver on Thursday (14.04.22), Elon said: "Twitter has become kind of the de facto town square. So it's just really important that people have both the reality and the perception that they're able to speak freely within the bounds of the law.
"This is not a way to sort of make money. My strong intuitive sense is that having a public platform that is maximally trusted and broadly inclusive is extremely important.
"So the future of civilisation, but you don't care about the economics at all."
The Tesla founder took aim at Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg when concerns were raised about one person controlling a platform such as Twitter.
Elon said: "You've got Mark Zuckerberg owning Facebook and Instagram and WhatsApp and with a share ownership structure that will have Mark Zuckerberg the 14th still controlling those entities. Like, literally."
Musk had explained the reasoning behind his attempt to buy Twitter as he does not believe the platform is living up to its potential.
In a letter to chairman Bret Taylor, the 54-year-old entrepreneur said: "I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is societal imperative for a functioning democracy. Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it."
Musk did confess that he is unsure if his attempts to take over Twitter will be successful, with chief executive Parag Agrawal reportedly telling employees that the company wouldn't be "held hostage" by the big-money offer.
The SpaceX founder said: "I am not sure I will actually be able to acquire it."
