On Friday, it was confirmed, after a lengthy legal process, that Elon Musk purchased Twitter. Tesla's founder had committed, and then backtracked from buying the social media company since last spring. The final deal, was almost four times the current valuation of the platform.
Free speech absolutism is a mantra Elon uses. He claimed to have bought Twitter as the most important public speaking digital square in order to protect free speech from censorship. His actions speak differently. The first move that Elon made after the deal was to reassure advertisers and sponsors that things will not change drastically through a public statement on Twitter.
Anti-establishment activists, far-righters and contrarians expected that one of the things to happen after the change of ownership would be to reinstate former US President Donald Trump on the platform. Despite that, Elon announced that a new board will be created for such decisions and for now bans on the account of DJT and others will remain in place.
If what happened with Kanye West / Ye or Tumblr is an indication, then don't expect Twitter to become a temple of free speech. Digital speech in centralized social media platforms like Twitter will remain heavily moderated as Elon needs the ads / sponsor revenue to keep flowing in order to make the platform profitable.
No sane sponsor who doesn't want to harm their image and business will continue to throw money into a dumpster fire where anything goes. This was evident on how quickly all sponsors dropped Kanye West within days of his anti-Semitic rants turning him instantly from a billionaire into a millionaire.
If Twitter is let to reign into a posting anarchy like that of Tumblr some years back, users and influencers will drop the platform in search of an alternative. There are always alternatives.
Twitter will remain heavily moderated and regulated. Things will change, but not in the way that some people think. Elon's voice and opinions will be amplified. If Bezos can use the Post as an amplifier to his agenda and Amazon's voice, then Musk will use Twitter.