Elon Musk Wonders Whether TikTok Is Destroying Civilisation

Elon Musk has taken to Twitter to question whether TIkTok is detrimental to the world.

"Is TikTok destroying civilisation? Some people think so. Or perhaps social media in general," he tweeted.

The tech mogul raised the question shortly after he spoke to Twitter staff on Thursday (June 16) in his first address since agreeing to buy the company for $44 billion (AU$62 billion) in April. 

In a video chat with his future employees Musk brought up the increasingly popular short-form video app and what it does right.

Or perhaps social media in general

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 18, 2022

"It does a great job of making sure you're not bored," Musk said, as per Insider.

He also praised TikTok’s developers for having 'honed the algorithm to be as engaging as possible'.

He went on to use TikTok as an example as he was explaining to staff that he does not want Twitter to offer up 'boring' content to its users.

"I mean, it does just feel like Attention Deficit Disorder. But like, next level," Musk said.

He added: "I do find some of their videos offensive, but they're not boring."

In the same meeting, the tech billionaire revealed his free-speech plan for Twitter.

He told staff that they 'should allow people to say what they want', as per The New York Times.

The SpaceX CEO later clarified that users should be allowed to say ‘pretty outrageous things’, as long as it doesn’t ‘violate the law’. 

However, Musk clarified that he didn’t want users to be ‘harassed or uncomfortable’ and that freedom of speech didn’t mean ‘freedom of reach’, meaning the platform could potentially limit the reach of harmful tweets.

“The standard is more than not offending people, the standard should be they should be entertained," Musk said, as per The Verge.

He also unveiled his goal of getting Twitter to the one billion user mark, drawing comparisons between Twitter, TikTok, and Chinese super-app WeChat.

According to Statista, WeChat is China’s most popular platform and mixes social media in with bill payments, games, ordering food, and even ride-sharing services.

"You basically live on WeChat in China. If we can recreate that with Twitter, we’ll be a great success," Musk said, as per The Verge.

When the tech billionaire was asked what success for Twitter will look like in five to 10 years, The Verge reported that Musk said the company should be 'contributing to a stronger longer lasting civilisation where we are better able to understand the nature of reality'.