With the Twitter takeover by the Tesla CEO Elon Musk almost certain, Google CEO Sundar Pichai believes that “it’s an extraordinarily important product for the world… I like to see the product continue to get better.
Pichai in a recent conversation with a media house said that he was an avid Twitter user and the platform is an important tool of expression, “because it plays an important role in a democratic society,” and he has “gotten a lot out of it,” Pichai said.
The Twitter takeover is widely talked about since Mush announced to buy out the microblogging platform which many believe would dilute the ‘democratic‘ value system of the platform. There are also some who feel Twitter would get better under Musk.
However, Pichai deferred in looking at investing in the platform saying that he does see a lot of value in investing in Twitter for the long term. Pichai also spoke about how to balance free speech. “I grew up in a large democracy, and the importance of free speech and giving people a voice I think is really foundational,” he said.
While expressing his views on how Google deals with free speech and content moderation, Pichai said that Google takes down stuff “that is against the law.” He said Google has clearly stated policies and community guidelines, which help in maximising free speech.
“In a product like YouTube, where we recommend and where we can amplify content, we do have community guidelines. So we have clearly stated policies. And we take action. And that’s what actually allows us to maximize free speech, [to] help keep the platform safe for everyone involved,” Pichai said.
