Sky News takes a look at what it might mean for the future of the platform, and whether users should be hopeful or concerned about what is to come.
The first step to ‘the everything app’
Musk has spoken repeatedly about a “super app”, which he has tentatively dubbed “X”.
Whether that is what Twitter becomes, or a larger platform his new purchase forms part of, is uncertain – but it has drawn comparisons with China’s WeChat, which combines familiar features like messaging, a marketplace, and public Twitter-style posts into one place.
“He has that kind of thinking,” Michael Vlismas, author of Musk biography Risking It All, told Sky News.
“While most people would get bogged down with the details and start their plan there, Elon Musk tends to go straight past all of that and start with the big idea and deal with the issues coming down the line.
“In my mind, it would be the first step on another two, three or four-point plan for where it fits into the next thing he wants to do.”
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For Musk’s critics, the vagueness of “the everything app” speaks to a man who does not have a real plan.
Jason Goldman, a member of Twitter’s founding team and ex-board member, believes that lack of clear strategy is exactly why he tried to pull out of the deal.
“He hasn’t put forward a serious plan about what he wants to do with the platform,” he told Sky News.
“He wants to defeat the bots, it’s about free speech, it’s all very hand-wavey.”
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0:53
Musk wants an ‘inclusive’ Twitter
A ‘Wild West’ for free speech
Musk has described himself as a “free speech absolutist”.
He views Twitter’s content moderation as too heavy-handed and has criticised the decision to ban prominent but controversial individuals like Donald Trump.
Experts have warned that the world’s richest man’s loose stance on moderation could be a route for the service’s “very worst” trolls to thrive, turning Twitter into a “Wild West” where anything goes.
Mr Goldman, who was the White House’s first chief digital officer under former president Barack Obama, said: “Free speech is a tremendously important principle, anyone running an internet platform should start by embracing that principle.
“The issue is that Elon doesn’t really care about that – he wants there to be more voices on the platform that cohere with his particular political views.”
Musk – who has been criticised for recent tweets regarding Ukraine and Taiwan – says Twitter’s free speech approach will be based on the laws of individual countries, which experts warn will empower authoritarian regimes.
“In the UK, we have rights that protect our opinions,” said Amelia Sordell, founder of brand agency Klowt.
“What about the countries whose laws prevent free speech? If Twitter abides by country law, those people will have fewer rights, not more.”
Image: Donald Trump was banned from Twitter following the Capitol riots in January 2021
Potential returns for controversial voices
Mr Trump fell foul of Twitter’s rules when deemed to have used his account to incite the US Capitol riots.
It was a high-profile intervention, matched on other platforms like Facebook, which came after years of social media companies being criticised for not doing enough to crack down on dangerous content.
“Elon clearly doesn’t value that work,” warned Mr Goldman.
“What that means is that there is going to be a real glut of people at the company who know how those protections are enforced and how they work, and that exposes everyone to more danger.
“And not just from ‘mean tweets’, but leaks of user privacy, the exposure of dissidents in authoritarian countries, things with real-world consequences.”
Since Mr Trump’s ban, he has since launched his own platform, Truth Social, promising a safe space for users to “share your unique opinion”.
What about Kanye West? He made a brief return to Twitter earlier this month to complain about being banned from Instagram for an allegedly antisemitic post.
“Welcome back to Twitter, my friend,” Musk said to West, before the rapper was promptly banned from there too.
Image: Kanye West and the former president have their own ‘free speech’ social media apps
New ways to pay
Twitter is extremely reliant on advertising – it partly blamed a slowdown in the industry for its poor financial results earlier this summer.
A solution, Musk believes, is to come up with a premium experience that some users will pay for– like a new verification marker.
Mr Goldman believes there is space for more premium features for Twitter’s “power users”, but warns Musk’s moderation stance risks alienating those most likely to pay up.
“The problem is those power users aren’t going to want to be on a platform, nor are advertisers, where discourse is looking more hostile […] and all of these user safety issues become more foregrounded,” he says.
“The real issue that surfaces with subscriptions is access,” adds Aaron Green, director of media and connections at R/GA London.
“Many users may not be able to afford a paid model, risking a loss of its current user base.”
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1:25
How Musk could change Twitter
Already it is clear that by buying Twitter, Elon Musk is putting an awful lot on his own plate.
Should his ambitions for Twitter match those he has for his other firms (from humanoid robots to life in space), the potential for change – for better or for worse – is certainly sizeable.
“SpaceX started with the grand idea of Mars and let’s colonise Mars – the impossible idea, but it produced this groundswell of support and interest and enthusiasm around space again,” says Musk biographer Mr Vlismas.
“Mars might never be the realisation, but it was the catalyst to form a very effective SpaceX.
“I think Twitter will be a very different space, but will it be a better place as a platform for humanity in the way Elon Musk wants? I think that’s the social media Mars at the moment.
“But on the way to maybe getting to that, I certainly think he will come up with some novel ideas.”
Ryanair staff are to get more money for spotting and charging for oversized baggage, the company’s chief executive has said.
Michael O’Leary said he made “absolutely no apology” for catching people who are “scamming the system”.
The reward for intercepting passengers travelling with bags larger than permitted will increase from €1.50 (£1.29) to €2.50 (£2.15) per bag in November, and the monthly €80 (£68.95) payment cap will be scrapped, Mr O’Leary said.
At present, the budget airline allows travellers a free 40cm x 30cm x 20cm bag, which can fit under the seat in front, and charges for further luggage up to 55cm x 40cm x 20cm in size.
Customers face fines of up to £75 for an oversized item if it is brought to the boarding gate.
“I make absolutely no apology for it whatsoever”, Mr O’Leary said.
“I am still mystified by the number of people with rucksacks who still think they’re going to get through the gate and we won’t notice the rucksack”, he added.
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Around 200,000 passengers per year are charged bag fees at airport gates.
“We have more work to do to get rid of them”, Mr O’Leary said.
“We are running a very efficient, very affordable, very low-cost airline, and we’re not letting anybody get in the way.”
The airline does not support a European Union proposal to ensure customers get a free cabin bag, he said.
Air fares
After a 7% fall in air fares for the year to 31 March, Mr O’Leary said he expected ticket prices to go back up this financial year.
“We expect to get most of last year’s 7% decline, but not all,” he told reporters in a news conference.
“We have sold about 70% of our September seats, but we have another 30% to sell, and it’s those last fares, what people pay for all those last-minute bookings through the remainder of September, that will ultimately determine what average airfares are.”
A larger than expected hike in the energy price cap from October is largely down to higher costs being imposed by the government.
The typical sum households face paying for gas and electricity when using direct debit is to rise by 2% – or £2.93 per month – to £1,755, the energy watchdog Ofgem announced.
The latest bill settlement, covering the final quarter of the year until the next price review takes effect from January, will affect around 20 million households.
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1:57
Bills must rise to pay for energy transition
The discount is set to add £15 to the average annual bill.
It will provide £150 in support to 2.7 million extra people this year, bringing the total number of beneficiaries to six million.
The balance is made up from money needed to upgrade the power network.
Tim Jarvis, director general of markets at Ofgem, said: “While there is still more to do, we are seeing signs of a healthier market. There are more people on fixed tariffs saving themselves money, switching is rising as options for consumers increase, and we’ve seen increases in customer satisfaction, alongside a reduction in complaints.
“While today’s change is below inflation, we know customers might not be feeling it in their pockets. There are things you can do though – consider a fixed tariff as this could save more than £200 against the new cap. Paying by direct debit or smart pay as you go could also save you money.
“In the longer term, we will continue to see fluctuations in our energy prices until we are insulated from volatile international gas markets. That’s why we continue to work with government and the sector to diversify our energy mix to reduce the reliance on markets we do not control.”
The looming price cap lift will leave bills around the same sort of level they were in October last year but it will take hold at a time when overall inflation is higher.
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1:09
Inflation has gone up again – this explains why
Food price increases, also partly blamed on government measures such as the national insurance contributions hike imposed on employers, have led the main consumer prices index to a current level of 3.8%.
It is predicted to rise to at least 4% in the coming months, further squeezing household budgets.
Ministers argue that efforts to make the UK less reliant on natural gas, through investment in renewable power sources, will help bring down bills in future.
Energy minister Michael Shanks said: “We know that any price rise is a concern for families. Wholesale gas prices remain 75% above their levels before Russia invaded Ukraine. That is the fossil fuel penalty being paid by families, businesses and our economy.
“That is why the only answer for Britain is this government’s mission to get us off the rollercoaster of fossil fuel prices and onto clean, homegrown power we control, to bring down bills for good.
“At the same time, we are determined to take urgent action to support vulnerable families this winter. That includes expanding the £150 Warm Home Discount to 2.7 million more households and stepping up our overhaul of the energy system to increase protections for customers.”
The small increase in domestic energy bills announced today confirms that prices have stabilised since the ruinous spikes that followed Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but remain 40% higher than before the war – around 20% in real terms – with little chance of falling in the medium-term.
Any increase in the annual cost of gas and electricity is unwelcome. But, at 2%, it is so marginal that in practice many consumers will not notice it unless they pay close attention to their consumption.
Regulator Ofgem uses a notional figure for “typical” annual consumption of gas and electricity to capture the impact of price change, which shows a £34 increase to £1,755.
At less than £3 a month it’s a small increase that could be wiped out by a warm week in October, doubled by an early cold snap, and only applies to those households that pay a variable rate for their power.
That number is declining as 37% of customers now take advantage of cheaper fixed rate deals that have returned to the market, as well as direct debit payments, options often not available to those struggling most.
Ofgem’s headline number is useful as a guide but what really counts is how much energy you use, and the cap the regulator applies to the underlying unit prices and standing charges.
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Here the maximum chargeable rate for electricity rises from 25.73p per kWh to 26.35p, while the unit cost of gas actually falls, from 6.33p per kWh to 6.26p. Daily standing charges for both increase however, by a total of 7p.
That increase provides an insight into the factors that will determine prices today and in future.
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3:36
Energy price cap rises by 2%
The biggest factor remains the international price of wholesale gas. It was what drove prices north of £4,000 a year after the pipelines to Russia were turned off, and has dragged them back down as Norway and liquid natural gas imported from the US, Australia and Qatar filled the gap.
The long-term solution is to replace reliance on gas with renewable and low-carbon sources of energy but shifting the balance comes with an up-front cost shared by all bill payers. So too is the cost of energy poverty that has soared since 2022.
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1:57
Bills must rise to pay for energy transition
This price cap includes an increase to cover “balancing costs”. These are fees typically paid to renewable generators to stop producing electricity because the national grid can’t always handle the transfer of power from Scotland, where the bulk is produced, to the south, where the lion’s share is consumed.
There is also an increase to cover the expansion of the Warm Homes Discount, a £150 payment extended to 2.7 million people by the government during the tortuous process of withdrawing and then partially re-instating the winter fuel payment to pensioners.
And while the unit price of gas has actually fallen, the daily standing charge, which covers the cost of maintaining the gas network, has risen by 4p, somewhat counterintuitively because we are using less.
While warmer weather and greater efficiency of homes means consumption has fallen, the cost of maintaining the network remains, and has to be shared across fewer units of gas. Expect that trend to be magnified as gas use declines but remains essential to maintaining electricity supply at short notice on a grid dominated by renewables.