Billionaire Elon Musk is giving "serious thought" to building a new social media platform.
The Tesla CEO announced his consideration in a tweet on Saturday, while responding to a Twitter user's question on whether he would consider building a social media platform consisting of an open source algorithm.
The user was asking if he would look at building one that would prioritise free speech and where propaganda was minimal.
Musk, a prolific user of Twitter himself, has been critical of the social media platform and its policies of late.
He has said the company is undermining democracy by failing to adhere to free speech principles.
His tweet comes just a day after he put out a Twitter poll asking users if they believed Twitter adheres to the principle of free speech.
More than 70 per cent of respondents voted "no".
"The consequences of this poll will be important.
“Please vote carefully," he said on Friday.
If Musk decides to go ahead with creating a new platform, he would be joining a growing portfolio of technology companies positioning themselves as champions of free speech.
Each of these companies are hoping to draw users who feel their views are suppressed on platforms such as Twitter, Meta Platform's Facebook and Alphabet-owned Google's YouTube.
None of the companies, including Donald Trump's Truth Social, Twitter competitors Gettr and Parler and video site Rumble, have come close to matching the reach and popularity of the mainstream platforms so far.
Elon Musk has made headlines recently for his Starlink app, which allows people access to a satellite-based internet service.
The app, which allows residents to bypass any internet outages, has become the most-downloaded app in Ukraine - no doubt much to Vladamir Putin 's dismay.
The SpaceX CEO, 50, gave Ukraine access to the satellite-internet system, comprised of some 2,000 satellites designed to bring web access to under-served areas of the world.
Reports of internet outages have been rising across Ukraine since Russia invaded three weeks ago.
Figures show that Elon's Starlink app has been downloaded almost 100,000 times in Ukraine, with global downloads more than tripling in the last couple of weeks.
The billionaire has challenged Russian President Vladimir Putin to “single combat”, with the “stakes” being Ukraine, the Daily Star reports.
With Mr Putin’s name written in Russian and Ukraine written in Ukrainian, the Tesla chief executive tweeted: “I hereby challenge (Vladimir Putin) to single combat.
“Stakes are (Ukraine).”
Mr Musk tagged the Kremlin in a follow-up tweet.
With Mr Putin’s name written in Russian and Ukraine written in Ukrainian, the Tesla chief executive tweeted: “I hereby challenge (Vladimir Putin) to single combat.
“Stakes are (Ukraine).”
Mr Musk tagged the Kremlin in a follow-up tweet.
