Elon Musk's X: The Twitter takeover a year on

Published: Oct. 26, 2023, 11:01 p.m.

After many months of news headlines about whether Elon Musk was going to buy Twitter, he eventually completed the purchase on 27 October 2022.

Since then, the company\u2019s been through some big changes; laying off most of its 8000 employees, a rebrand to \u2018X\u2019, and reinstating some previously banned accounts on the platform.

Mr Musk describes himself a free speech absolutist and says he bought Twitter \u2013 now called X - to create a space where \u201ca wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner.\u201d However, the company\u2019s faced criticism over lax content moderation, leading to advertisers halting ads on the service. He hopes to boost revenue by making the site a paid-for platform, setting himself some ambitious financial targets.

In this episode, Sam Fenwick speaks to former employees, business owners and journalists to get a picture of what has happened at X since Elon Musk took over.

(Picture: Elon Musk next to a logo for X - formerly known as Twitter. Credit: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)

Produced by Amber Mehmood and Hannah Mullane