<p>Twitter stock surged in pre-market trading on Monday after Elon Musk revealed he'd taken a stake in the company, days after criticizing the social media giant for "failing to adhere to free speech principles."</p> <p>The Tesla CEO has taken a 9.2% stake in Twitter as of March 14 according to an <a href="https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001418091/000110465922041911/tm2211482d1_sc13g.htm">SEC filing</a>.</p> <p>Twitter's share price has shot up from $39.31 to $49.06 — up 25% — in pre-market trading on the news.</p> <p>This comes after Musk held discussions on Twitter about its algorithms and whether they should be open source. On March 24, he <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1507037126654939140">wrote</a>, "<span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">I’m worried about de facto bias in “the </span><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-b88u0q r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">Twitter</span><span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0"> algorithm” having a major effect on public discourse." He then tweeted a poll <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1507041396242407424">asking</a> whether Twitter's algorithm should be open source.<br /> </span></p> <p>At the time, former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey <a href="https://twitter.com/jack/status/1507146276416098307">replied</a>, "<span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">The choice of which algorithm to use (or not) should be open to everyone."</span></p> <p>Musk has also had concerns about whether Twitter is maintaining free speech on its platform. On March 26, <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1507777913042571267">he asked</a> if a new platform was needed. When another Twitter user asked he was considering building a new social media platform that would consist of an open-source algorithm and promote free speech, Musk <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1507907130124222471">replied</a> that he was giving it serious thought.</p> <p>Musk has also criticized Twitter's use of spending engineering resources on integrating NFTs as opposed to fixing other issues on its platform. "<span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">Twitter is spending engineering resources on this bs while crypto scammers are throwing a spambot block party in every thread!?</span>" he <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1484456594775678976">wrote</a>, after it added NFT profile pictures.</p> <p>He has also been critical of social media in general. In 2020, he tweeted, "<span class="css-901oao css-16my406 r-poiln3 r-bcqeeo r-qvutc0">Social media is a limbic amplifier, which inherently destabilizes civilization.</span>"</p> <p><em><i data-stringify-type="italic">For more breaking stories like this, make sure to subscribe to The Block on </i><i data-stringify-type="italic"><a class="c-link" tabindex="-1" href="https://t.me/the_block_crypto" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://t.me/the_block_crypto" data-sk="tooltip_parent" data-remove-tab-index="true">Telegram</a></i><i data-stringify-type="italic">.</i></em></p>