Back then, while X’s future looked bleak, Mark Zuckerberg saw an opportunity. On July 5, 2023, Meta launched Threads, a Twitter alternative that promised a “healthy” social media environment, as described by product manager Chris Cox. However, to remain a more pleasant space, Meta made a drastic and controversial decision: it largely avoided political content and divisive social issues. This came at the cost of the influence that had once made Twitter a central hub for breaking news and political discourse.
Despite some controversies and its lukewarm reception, Threads grew steadily, reaching 275 million monthly users by October 2024. Meanwhile, X/Twitter continued bleeding users. Then came the moment that few believed – or wanted to believe – would happen: Donald Trump won the 2024 U.S. presidential election, with Elon Musk as his right hand.
Unlike in 2016, this time, Trump’s victory was met not with Silicon Valley resistance but with compliance. Tech giants bent the knee before the emperor and quickly adapted to the new political landscape, dismantling diversity and inclusion programs, abandoning fact-checking, and loosening content moderation.
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