1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:03,200 Speaker 1: Good morning, and welcome to the Daily OS where at 2 00:00:03,320 --> 00:00:06,640 Speaker 1: Wednesday it's the twenty seventh of April, and today we're 3 00:00:06,680 --> 00:00:10,040 Speaker 1: talking about the thing on everyone's minds and lips, and 4 00:00:10,039 --> 00:00:13,440 Speaker 1: that is, of course, the purchase of Twitter by Elon Musk. 5 00:00:13,560 --> 00:00:15,960 Speaker 1: But before we get there, Sam, before you give me 6 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:18,720 Speaker 1: the deep dive and the run through on what that 7 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:22,079 Speaker 1: all means for me as an avid Twitter user, let's 8 00:00:22,120 --> 00:00:23,239 Speaker 1: go through the headlines of the day. 9 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:28,640 Speaker 2: First up, God Dog's Victoria CEO Karen Hayes has stepped down, 10 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:32,720 Speaker 2: pending an investigation into her inclusion in a political ad 11 00:00:32,960 --> 00:00:37,720 Speaker 2: for Federal Treasurer Josh Friedenberg. In a statement, the organization said, 12 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:40,720 Speaker 2: quote the purpose of the investigation is to understand what 13 00:00:40,840 --> 00:00:43,240 Speaker 2: happened and ensure it never happens again. 14 00:00:43,800 --> 00:00:47,599 Speaker 1: Uber is facing a whopping twenty six million dollar penalty 15 00:00:47,760 --> 00:00:51,720 Speaker 1: after admining a broke Australian consumer or by making misleading 16 00:00:51,840 --> 00:00:55,400 Speaker 1: statements on its app. So the company basically admitted it 17 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:58,800 Speaker 1: had engaged in deceptive or misleading conduct and that was 18 00:00:58,840 --> 00:01:01,640 Speaker 1: in relation to trip cancelation warnings. 19 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:05,280 Speaker 2: Meanwhile, millions of residents in Beijing are now subject to 20 00:01:05,360 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 2: mandatory testing due to a COVID outbreak in the city's 21 00:01:08,600 --> 00:01:12,200 Speaker 2: largest district. Officials have ordered that nearly everyone in the 22 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:16,000 Speaker 2: entire city take three PCR tests over the next five days. 23 00:01:16,480 --> 00:01:19,000 Speaker 2: Keep in mind Beijing has a population of about twenty 24 00:01:19,000 --> 00:01:20,240 Speaker 2: two million people. 25 00:01:20,840 --> 00:01:24,360 Speaker 1: Finally, the good news. It's the coolest wedding of the year. 26 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:27,520 Speaker 1: The first same sex wedding has taken place on British 27 00:01:27,560 --> 00:01:31,959 Speaker 1: Antarctic Territory. The couple work aboard a polar research vessel 28 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:40,440 Speaker 1: called the RRS Sir David Attenborough. All right, Sam, it's 29 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 1: the moment you've been waiting for. You've been itching to 30 00:01:42,959 --> 00:01:47,600 Speaker 1: talk about this since it first broke yesterday, So tell 31 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:50,160 Speaker 1: me what has happened with Elon Musk. We know he's 32 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:53,200 Speaker 1: bought Twitter, We know that that transaction is all but assured. 33 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:55,840 Speaker 3: But for people that aren't following every. 34 00:01:56,040 --> 00:01:58,680 Speaker 1: Nook and cranny of this story, start from the beginning 35 00:01:58,760 --> 00:02:00,760 Speaker 1: and take us through what happened and a couple of 36 00:02:00,800 --> 00:02:02,600 Speaker 1: weeks ago and how we ended up here. 37 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:06,840 Speaker 2: So to start this weird and wacky journey, we have 38 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:09,400 Speaker 2: to go back to the first of April. It feels 39 00:02:09,440 --> 00:02:11,440 Speaker 2: like quite a while ago, Zara, but it was only 40 00:02:11,480 --> 00:02:14,400 Speaker 2: twenty six days ago. That was when we first heard 41 00:02:14,440 --> 00:02:17,240 Speaker 2: that Elon Musk had a steak at all in Twitter. 42 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:20,400 Speaker 2: So I guess if we go back a couple of years, 43 00:02:20,520 --> 00:02:24,079 Speaker 2: Elon is a massive Twitter user. It's where he publishes 44 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:26,880 Speaker 2: a lot of his big announcements. He can make a 45 00:02:26,960 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 2: stock price go up and down with only a couple 46 00:02:29,880 --> 00:02:33,280 Speaker 2: of characters. He can sell out sneakers, he can make 47 00:02:33,360 --> 00:02:36,639 Speaker 2: product sales go through the roof. So it wasn't totally 48 00:02:36,720 --> 00:02:39,240 Speaker 2: unsurprising that he took an interest in this company. He's 49 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:42,840 Speaker 2: quite a passionate man. He bought enough shares to own 50 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 2: nine percent of the company. Now that was interesting because 51 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:49,080 Speaker 2: a lot of people were saying, well, why didn't he 52 00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:51,800 Speaker 2: buy more? He had all the billions he wanted, He's 53 00:02:51,840 --> 00:02:53,839 Speaker 2: the richest man in the world. Why didn't he take 54 00:02:53,880 --> 00:02:56,280 Speaker 2: a bigger steak? And if you look at the Twitter 55 00:02:56,320 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 2: board constitution, there's actually a rule that says that if 56 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 2: you're sitting over fourteen percent of ownership in the company, 57 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:06,280 Speaker 2: you can't sit on the board directly. So the whole 58 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 2: theory here was that Elon was kind of taking a 59 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:12,079 Speaker 2: lower stake in the company than perhaps he could afford 60 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:14,760 Speaker 2: in order to have some sway over the direction of 61 00:03:14,840 --> 00:03:17,880 Speaker 2: the company. Now, if we fast forward a couple of weeks, 62 00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:20,840 Speaker 2: we figured out that he was in fact on track 63 00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:23,240 Speaker 2: to buy the whole thing. He put forward an offer 64 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:27,080 Speaker 2: to buy Twitter for fifty billion Australian dollars. This was 65 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:30,080 Speaker 2: considered by the Twitter board, but they actually knocked it back. 66 00:03:30,160 --> 00:03:32,960 Speaker 2: They said it wasn't enough and didn't provide enough value 67 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:37,200 Speaker 2: to their shareholders. This was an interesting tension because it 68 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 2: definitely did provide a big discount on the current share price, 69 00:03:41,360 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 2: so there would have been a lot of Mum and 70 00:03:43,240 --> 00:03:46,040 Speaker 2: Dad Twitter shareholders sitting there going well, I don't really 71 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:48,480 Speaker 2: care if Elon Musk owns the company. I don't really 72 00:03:48,520 --> 00:03:51,040 Speaker 2: care who owns the company. I want to make money 73 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:54,880 Speaker 2: on my shares. Nonetheless, it was knocked back. Then fast 74 00:03:54,920 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 2: forward another seven days to this week, and it seems 75 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:00,760 Speaker 2: like he has gotten the transaction over the line, only 76 00:04:00,840 --> 00:04:03,480 Speaker 2: needing to add about three billion more dollars to his 77 00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 2: initial bid. 78 00:04:04,680 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 1: So just a cool three billion dollars can you jump 79 00:04:08,760 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 1: to what the ramifications of his purchase might be? I 80 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:15,440 Speaker 1: guess on the platform itself and for users like you 81 00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:15,920 Speaker 1: and I. 82 00:04:16,560 --> 00:04:19,360 Speaker 2: So to answer this question, we really need to delve deeper. 83 00:04:19,480 --> 00:04:23,080 Speaker 2: Into Musk's version of the Twitter verse. We need to 84 00:04:23,160 --> 00:04:26,280 Speaker 2: understand what Elon Musk thinks is the best version of Twitter, 85 00:04:26,480 --> 00:04:28,640 Speaker 2: and I guess there's a couple of key pillars here. 86 00:04:29,080 --> 00:04:33,039 Speaker 2: One is his emphasis on free speech, Another is his 87 00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:36,320 Speaker 2: emphasis on less bots on the program. And then lastly 88 00:04:36,560 --> 00:04:39,680 Speaker 2: is this notion of open source technology. So let's break 89 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:42,799 Speaker 2: all of those down in turn free speech. Elon thinks 90 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:45,240 Speaker 2: that there should be no censorship on Twitter at all. 91 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 2: So any hate speech or derogatory speech that's currently banned 92 00:04:49,560 --> 00:04:53,200 Speaker 2: on the platform, picked up by keyword by Twitter's algorithm, 93 00:04:53,640 --> 00:04:57,919 Speaker 2: that shouldn't exist in Elon Musk's Twitterverse. Now that isn't 94 00:04:57,960 --> 00:05:00,320 Speaker 2: the case on some other social media network, So that 95 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:03,240 Speaker 2: perhaps what we'd call part of the deep web or 96 00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:06,480 Speaker 2: the dark web. These are things like four Chan, which 97 00:05:06,520 --> 00:05:09,480 Speaker 2: is an Internet web forum. And even President Trump has 98 00:05:09,520 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 2: just come out with a new social network called truth 99 00:05:12,480 --> 00:05:16,080 Speaker 2: Social that's meant to compete with Twitter for this kind 100 00:05:16,080 --> 00:05:20,640 Speaker 2: of unregulated forum. The current status of Twitter is a 101 00:05:20,640 --> 00:05:23,320 Speaker 2: bit more regulated than that. And that's not the company 102 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:25,880 Speaker 2: that Elon Musk wants to run. He wants to run 103 00:05:26,360 --> 00:05:29,840 Speaker 2: what he says is an unregulated town square, and he 104 00:05:29,880 --> 00:05:32,800 Speaker 2: often refers to Twitter as the town square, And. 105 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:35,680 Speaker 1: Just before we go any further, given that our audience 106 00:05:35,760 --> 00:05:38,560 Speaker 1: is younger, might not be familiar with the concept of 107 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:40,359 Speaker 1: a town square, can you just take them through what 108 00:05:40,480 --> 00:05:41,400 Speaker 1: that actually means. 109 00:05:41,640 --> 00:05:44,400 Speaker 2: I guess it's a bit of a medieval analogy to 110 00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 2: when people would literally gather in the center of a 111 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:49,160 Speaker 2: town to hear the news of the day being announced 112 00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:52,000 Speaker 2: by somebody standing on a box in the corner. Or 113 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:54,000 Speaker 2: they might go to a point where there's a big 114 00:05:54,040 --> 00:05:58,600 Speaker 2: wall of posters and there's some sort of corkboard or chalkboard. 115 00:05:59,279 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 2: That's kind of on now what we know as Twitter 116 00:06:02,200 --> 00:06:05,720 Speaker 2: or on Instagram as the daily ohs, that's what he 117 00:06:05,760 --> 00:06:09,360 Speaker 2: wants to recreate on Twitter. He doesn't feel like that's 118 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:13,040 Speaker 2: an unregulated town square at the moment. If we look 119 00:06:13,040 --> 00:06:17,000 Speaker 2: at the last point about bots, there's currently a crazy 120 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:19,800 Speaker 2: amount of bots on Twitter. In fact, on every social 121 00:06:19,839 --> 00:06:22,359 Speaker 2: media network. We deal with them a lot on the 122 00:06:22,400 --> 00:06:24,279 Speaker 2: daily odds they might be trying to sell you a 123 00:06:24,320 --> 00:06:27,560 Speaker 2: crypto scam in the comments or something. Elon believes he 124 00:06:27,640 --> 00:06:30,400 Speaker 2: knows how to block these bots, and he thinks he 125 00:06:30,440 --> 00:06:34,039 Speaker 2: can create a less polluted twitterverse, and I guess to 126 00:06:34,080 --> 00:06:35,800 Speaker 2: that point. The other thing that he wants to do 127 00:06:35,960 --> 00:06:39,120 Speaker 2: is to have open source technology, and this is a 128 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:42,760 Speaker 2: really interesting one. Basically, he says that Twitter's algorithm, so 129 00:06:43,040 --> 00:06:45,559 Speaker 2: what is successful on the platform, how the platform works, 130 00:06:45,560 --> 00:06:49,119 Speaker 2: how the platform treats content, should be open source, meaning 131 00:06:49,160 --> 00:06:52,640 Speaker 2: that anybody has access to it. He cemented this view 132 00:06:52,680 --> 00:06:55,320 Speaker 2: when he actually put a poll on his Twitter which 133 00:06:55,400 --> 00:06:58,800 Speaker 2: collected about one point one million votes, asking us whether 134 00:06:58,839 --> 00:07:01,239 Speaker 2: we thought the platform should be open source, and eighty 135 00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:03,560 Speaker 2: six percent of us said yes. It's kind of like 136 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:07,000 Speaker 2: Wikipedia exactly. The way that we're able to edit articles 137 00:07:07,000 --> 00:07:09,360 Speaker 2: on Wikipedia, that's the way that we should be able 138 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:10,840 Speaker 2: to use Twitter's technology. 139 00:07:11,200 --> 00:07:14,520 Speaker 1: Okay, So taking a step back and zooming out what 140 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:18,360 Speaker 1: does this actually mean for Twitter users? Should you or 141 00:07:18,440 --> 00:07:21,200 Speaker 1: I care about who owns this company? I guess it's 142 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:23,520 Speaker 1: going from public to private, But beyond that, what does 143 00:07:23,560 --> 00:07:24,400 Speaker 1: it actually mean? 144 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:26,880 Speaker 2: Well, I think this is a big decision for those 145 00:07:27,000 --> 00:07:29,400 Speaker 2: on Twitter, but also those not on Twitter. It is 146 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:33,680 Speaker 2: an absolutely dominant social media platform for the operations of 147 00:07:33,720 --> 00:07:36,480 Speaker 2: the world. It has hundreds of millions of users. It's 148 00:07:36,560 --> 00:07:39,280 Speaker 2: used by every world leader as a method of communication. 149 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:42,920 Speaker 2: We rely on a lot as journalists to hear and 150 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:46,040 Speaker 2: see what the world is thinking and seeing themselves. It's 151 00:07:46,040 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 2: a way that you and I find breaking news, Zara. 152 00:07:48,800 --> 00:07:50,800 Speaker 2: It's a way that we can find sourced photos and 153 00:07:50,880 --> 00:07:53,480 Speaker 2: videos on the ground when something major happens in the world. 154 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:55,040 Speaker 2: I hope that you and I have been using it 155 00:07:55,080 --> 00:07:58,560 Speaker 2: a lot to look and examine the coverage from Ukraine. 156 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:01,760 Speaker 2: So changes to this platform are going to impact the 157 00:08:01,760 --> 00:08:03,760 Speaker 2: way that we get our news, and so from a 158 00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:06,600 Speaker 2: news perspective, there's going to be massive changes. But I 159 00:08:06,640 --> 00:08:09,280 Speaker 2: think if the rules of Twitter are loosened, it's going 160 00:08:09,320 --> 00:08:12,800 Speaker 2: to change the nature of the platform. Here's an example. 161 00:08:13,280 --> 00:08:17,000 Speaker 2: Under Elon Musk's proposed rules, Donald Trump would be back 162 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:19,640 Speaker 2: on the platform because there certainly wouldn't be the banning 163 00:08:19,760 --> 00:08:23,000 Speaker 2: of particular tweets if there was an open source, free 164 00:08:23,040 --> 00:08:27,440 Speaker 2: speech Twitter based on Elon Musk's version of the Twitter verse. 165 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 2: Now that's a major change. It's a major implication on 166 00:08:31,440 --> 00:08:34,720 Speaker 2: the spirit of the platform, on what type of information 167 00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:37,560 Speaker 2: and users are attracted to the platform, and the fact 168 00:08:37,559 --> 00:08:40,439 Speaker 2: that we could be replatforming a former president who has 169 00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:44,320 Speaker 2: some very controversial views will inevitably make headlines. 170 00:08:44,840 --> 00:08:47,840 Speaker 1: And I guess from my perspective, and I'll just throw 171 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:50,000 Speaker 1: it in my two cents here because it certainly seemed 172 00:08:50,040 --> 00:08:52,600 Speaker 1: to be reflected in the comments section of our Instagram 173 00:08:52,679 --> 00:08:55,920 Speaker 1: post yesterday. There seems to be a lot of unease, 174 00:08:55,960 --> 00:08:59,520 Speaker 1: I guess about this consolidation of power in the hands 175 00:08:59,520 --> 00:09:02,840 Speaker 1: of someone the already is deeply powerful and has a 176 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:07,000 Speaker 1: concentration of wealth as it stands. So somebody ultimately buying 177 00:09:07,040 --> 00:09:10,400 Speaker 1: what he deems to be the town square and having 178 00:09:10,559 --> 00:09:14,839 Speaker 1: complete power over that is certainly questionable for some and 179 00:09:14,960 --> 00:09:18,080 Speaker 1: a lot of people are wondering or questioning indeed why 180 00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:22,640 Speaker 1: Elon Musk is putting billions and billions of dollars behind this, when, 181 00:09:22,679 --> 00:09:25,439 Speaker 1: of course there are many other issues plaguing the world. 182 00:09:25,520 --> 00:09:27,440 Speaker 1: And so I guess it'll remain to see what he 183 00:09:27,520 --> 00:09:30,880 Speaker 1: actually does with a platform, how it affects our democracy 184 00:09:30,920 --> 00:09:35,160 Speaker 1: because Twitter is intrinsically linked to the operation of our democracy. 185 00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:37,920 Speaker 1: He certainly made an impact on the world through his 186 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:41,240 Speaker 1: work at Tesla, so it'll be really interesting to see 187 00:09:41,320 --> 00:09:43,199 Speaker 1: what happens in this space. 188 00:09:43,760 --> 00:09:47,880 Speaker 2: And that's an interesting point there about Tesla. He actually 189 00:09:48,000 --> 00:09:51,360 Speaker 2: has annoyed a lot of Tesla's shareholders who now are 190 00:09:51,400 --> 00:09:55,080 Speaker 2: worried that he'll be focused on another company that he'll 191 00:09:55,080 --> 00:09:56,719 Speaker 2: own one hundred percent of. I mean, you've got to 192 00:09:56,800 --> 00:09:58,800 Speaker 2: keep in mind that Tesla is also a multi billion 193 00:09:58,840 --> 00:10:02,520 Speaker 2: dollar company with lots and lots of publicly listed shares 194 00:10:02,559 --> 00:10:05,160 Speaker 2: all over the world, and they're definitely going to be 195 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:07,480 Speaker 2: worried that they have a CEO with something else on 196 00:10:07,640 --> 00:10:08,160 Speaker 2: his mind. 197 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:10,560 Speaker 3: Let us know what you think about this. 198 00:10:10,840 --> 00:10:14,120 Speaker 1: It's divided our audience, it's divided our newsrooms, so we're 199 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 1: very curious to know what you think about the Elon 200 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:18,760 Speaker 1: Musk Twitter News. 201 00:10:19,440 --> 00:10:19,920 Speaker 3: If you want to. 202 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:22,280 Speaker 1: Learn more about it or read about what else is 203 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:24,559 Speaker 1: happening in the world, you can follow us on Instagram 204 00:10:24,600 --> 00:10:27,400 Speaker 1: at the Daily Ozzits, where over three hundred and fifty 205 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:30,360 Speaker 1: thousand ossies get their news every day, and of course 206 00:10:30,640 --> 00:10:33,000 Speaker 1: we'd love to welcome you over there as well. 207 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:34,960 Speaker 3: Thank you for listening, and have a great day.