Elon Musk’s Digs At Twitter, Web3 and NFTs, On Twitter; Before Stake Disclosure

In the run-up to Tesla Inc Chief Executive Elon Musk’s public disclosure of a $3 billion stake in Twitter, the billionaire had criticized the microblogging site for failing to adhere to free speech principles and said he was contemplating building a new social media platform.

The world’s richest person in the past months has said he is a free speech absolutist, while being vocal against Web3, a term for a utopian version of the internet that is decentralized and whose commercial backbone is the non-fungible tokens (NFT).

Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey and Mr Musk, though active proponents of cryptocurrencies, share skepticism around the metaverse, NFTs and Web3, what some deem to be the evolution of the internet.

From ridiculing Twitter’s new CEO to calling NFT profile pictures “annoying”, here’s a list of Musk’s tweets and comments on Twitter, Web3, NFTs and free speech.

Date, Tweet:

March 15, 2021: Mr Musk tweeted, “I’m selling this song about NFTs as an 2021 NFT.” The tweet included a song with the lyrics – “NFT for your vanity. Computers never sleep. It’s verified. It’s guaranteed.” The next day, he tweeted: “Actually, doesn’t feel quite right selling this. Will pass.”

December 1: Mr Musk posted a meme comparing new Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal 2021 with Joseph Stalin

December 2: “Web3 sounds like bs”, said Musk, responding to a thread 2021 by OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman

December 21: Mr Musk mocked the Web3 concept, in a tweet, he said, “Has 2021 anyone seen web3? I can’t find it.”

January 21, 2022: In a Twitter thread calling the NFT profile picture 2022 feature annoying, Mr Musk said, “Twitter is spending engineering resources on this bs while crypto scammers are throwing a spambot block party in every thread!?”

February 22: Mr Musk, known for creating original memes, tweeted an image 2022 mocking the progress of the world wide web, ridiculing Web3.

March 5: In a tweet claiming some governments asked Starlink to 2022 block Russian news sources, Mr Musk said, “Sorry to be a free speech absolutist.”

March 24: Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said in a quote tweet, “The 2022 choice of which algorithm to use (or not) should be open to everyone”

March 24: Mr Musk asked in a poll if Twitter’s algorithm should be open 2022 source.

March 26: Mr Musk said Twitter failing to adhere to free speech 2022 principles fundamentally undermines democracy and asked if a new platform was needed.

April 4: In his first tweet since the disclosure of his stake in 2022 Twitter, he said, “Oh hi lol.”

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)