Social media experts are skeptical of Elon Musk's plans for Twitter

MILWAUKEE, Wis. (CBS 58)-- The world's richest person is now the owner of Twitter.

Elon Musk bought the social media platform for $44 billion. 

Experts are skeptical of what Musk's leadership will mean for the company and its users.

"We now have a major platform where we share information, engage in discussion that is controlled by one individual," Associate Professor of Computer Science at Marquette University Michael Zimmer said. "I think (that) should be worrisome for a lot of people."

Musk is pushing for free speech on the website and app that currently have rules and systems that detect threats, harassment and misinformation. 

"Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated," Musk said in a statement on Twitter.

Zimmer said he isn't so sure a platform where users face no accountability for their words is beneficial for society. 

"I think that could be harmful for a lot of people that are worried about hate speech, misinformation or other kinds of content that could be considered dangerous," Zimmer said.

Musk also tweeted about other changes, including publicizing algorithms, defeating spam bots, and authenticating human users. 

"We're not really sure what that might mean, what Twitter is going to look like just six months from now," Zimmer said.

Experts predict users could come and go as Musk's Twitter takeover forces people to reevaluate what platforms they trust. 

"It's really events like this that spark people to start thinking about, is this really the right kind of platform for me?" Zimmer said.