TEXAS, USA — Texas is already home to major companies like Southwest Airlines, AT&T, and Pizza Hut, but could the Lone Star State become the primary residence for Twitter?
That's what one Texas rancher is hoping for after Twitter accepted an offer from Elon Musk to acquire the social media platform for roughly $44 billion.
Jim Schwertner, president and CEO of Schwertner Farms, tweeted to Musk Tuesday, asking him to move Twitter to Schwertner, which is about 38 miles north of Austin. If obliged, Schwertner promised Musk 100 acres for free.
"Elon Musk, Move Twitter to Schwertner, TX. 38 Miles North of Austin in Williamson County, and we will give you 100 Acres for FREE," the tweet read.
Schwertner is not the only Texan who is pleading with Musk to move Twitter to the bluebonnet state.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted to Musk Monday saying "bring Twitter to Texas to join Tesla, SpaceX and the Boring company."
Twitter moving its headquarters from San Franciso to Texas is not a far-fetched idea since Musk already has companies stationed within the Lone Star State.
Tesla's Gigafactory is in Austin and his Boring company has just bought land in Texas. Musk even has a SpaceX site that launches in Texas.
Musk said in a joint statement with Twitter that he wants to make the service “better than ever” with new features while getting rid of automated "spam'' accounts and making its algorithms open to the public to increase trust.
“Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,” the 50-year-old Musk said, adding hearts, stars and rocket emojis in a tweet that highlighted the statement.
The more hands-off approach to content moderation that Musk envisions has many users concerned that the platform will become more of a haven for disinformation, hate speech and bullying, something it has worked hard in recent years to mitigate. Wall Street analysts said if he goes too far, it could also alienate advertisers.
The deal was cemented roughly two weeks after the billionaire first revealed a 9% stake in the platform. Musk said last week that he had lined up $46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter, putting pressure on the company’s board to negotiate a deal.
Asked during a recent TED interview if there are any limits to his notion of “free speech,” Musk said Twitter would abide by national laws that restrict speech around the world. Beyond that, he said, he’d be “very reluctant” to delete posts or permanently ban users who violate the company's rules.
It won’t be perfect, Musk added, “but I think we want it to really have the perception and reality that speech is as free as reasonably possible."