Kate Klonick & the Twitter Takeover

Digging a Hole: The Legal Theory Podcast

In a matter dear to Sam and Dave’s livelihoods, we have a timely podcast to discuss Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover. There is no one better to get into the weeds of this issue than Kate Klonick. Kate is an Associate Professor of Law at St. John’s University Law School and a Visiting School at Harvard University’s Rebooting Social Media Initiative. She is a leading expert on social media companies, content moderation, and the private governance of online speech.

If you want to understand why Elon Musk bought Twitter and the likely implications, you’ve come to the right post. David (Sam’s away) begins by asking the obvious – why is Elon doing this and what is his plan? Is he a tech genius or is this a completely irrational pet project? A lot has also been said about Twitter’s content moderation policy and Elon’s purported issues with it. Kate explains to us how Twitter’s policies are unique from those of other social media companies. She also delves into the consequences of Elon messing with these policies and, potentially, laying off much of Twitter’s staff that works on content moderation (right before an election!).

The short- and long-term consequences of this takeover will be felt throughout society, so come learn more!

Referenced Readings

• “Elon Musk’s Management Style Is a Threat to Global Democracy,” by Kate Klonick
• “Elon Musk, Plus a Circle of Confidants, Tightens Control Over Twitter,” by Mike Isaac, Ryan Mac, & Kate Conger
• “Twitter, Once a Threat to Titans, Now Belongs to One,” by Kevin Roose
• “Elon Musk is Busy With Twitter,” by Matt Levine
• “Inside the Making of Facebook’s Supreme Court,” by Kate Klonick
• “Implications of Revenue Models and Technology for Content Moderation Strategies,” by Yi Liu, Pinar Yildirim, & Z. John Zhang