In the wake of Twitter’s announcement that it has accepted Elon Musk’s buyout bid, many across the media spectrum are offering their opinions about the implications for the social media networking site. Sunny Hostin, co-host of ABC's “The View,” recently jumped in with her take on the eclectic Tesla CEO’s takeover of the platform.
“Twitter is not the real world," Hostin said. She explained her position by referencing a Pew Research Center survey published in 2019, saying what was interesting to her was that “only 22% of adults are on Twitter in the world.” It is worth pointing out that the study Hostin pointed to pertained to adults only within the United States, not globally. In that study, Twitter fell near the bottom of the most widely used online platforms, beating out only WhatsApp by 2% and Reddit by 11%.
Hostin was also critical of Musk for saying that Twitter was about free speech. Hostin said that Twitter is primarily a platform for “straight, white men.” So when Elon Musk says Twitter is about free speech, “It’s about free speech of straight, white men, and so let them have it,” Hostin said.