Twitter is reportedly in talks with companies including Google, Salesforce, and Verizon for a potential sale after the social network’s user decline over the past year.
CNBC reports, “Suitors are said to be interested as much in the data that Twitter generates as its place as a media company.” Twitter’s shares have risen around 20% since the news broke on Friday.
Posting on Twitter, Salesforce’s chief digital evangelist Vala Afshar expressed his desire to acquire the social network, stating, “I simply love Twitter.”
Why @twitter?
1 personal learning network
2 the best realtime, context rich news
3 democratize intelligence
4 great place to promote others— Vala Afshar (@ValaAfshar) September 23, 2016
I have tweeted my personal views regarding 'Why Twitter?' numerous times over the past couple of years. I simply love Twitter.
— Vala Afshar (@ValaAfshar) September 23, 2016
“Failing Twitter is trying to sell. Who knows, someone might buy it!” said Breitbart Tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos on Facebook after hearing the news. “Tonight at Florida State University, my talk will address why Twitter failed. I’ll be holding a funeral for Twitter complete with a coffin and mourners (any volunteers?) and I’ll be explaining how the social network got it so wrong.”
“No surprises for guessing: it’s all about free speech,” he continued. “And, of course, the preposterous, ugly politics of the social-justice left.”
https://www.facebook.com/myiannopoulos/posts/747644815373416
Twitter has come under heavy criticism over the past year for their censorship and restrictions of conservative speech.
After removing his verification badge, Twitter went on to permanently suspend Yiannopoulos in July after he engaged in a spat with Ghostbusters (2016) actress Leslie Jones.
The social network has since gone on to suspend other conservative accounts and even a Saudi Arabian women’s rights group, after the non-profit organization criticized Saudi Arabia’s treatment of women, while simultaneously refusing to intervene when conservative women receive death threats and sexual harassment.
In February, an inside source confirmed that “shadowbanning” was a real tactic enforced by the social network to silence those with the wrong opinions, and Twitter’s user growth has since been on the decline, with free-speech competitors such as Gab absorbing the platform’s exiled users.
Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.