Readers who do not use the social media platform Twitter might be a little confused by all the fuss caused by billionaire Elon Musk’s purchase of the company for $61 billion.

With just 210 million users, Twitter is not nearly as big or profitable as rivals such as Facebook or Instagram and the app looks boring compared to Instagram or TikTok .

But this deal is important because Twitter has come to occupy a crucial place in public debate, thanks to its unique formula of limiting posts to oversized haikus of just 280 characters.

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It has become the preferred platform for politicians, business people, academics, celebrities, pundits and shock jocks of all stripes to put out a pithy message fast.

Musk, who already has a huge fortune from his Tesla electric vehicle and Space X satellite companies, says he is buying Twitter not to make money for himself but because it has become the global “town square” and he is passionate about using it to protect free speech. He says: “The truth matters to me a lot, like pathologically.”

Musk has made a couple of vague proposals for how he plans to improve the site but there are some grounds for scepticism.

He says he will do more to verify the identities of all users to crack down on anonymous trolls and bots, sometimes paid for by foreign governments or other vested interests, who pile on and terrorise Twitter users with threatening tweets.

In the name of free speech, Musk says he wants to stop Twitter banning users who break its rules by engaging in hate speech. Musk also says he will make the algorithms which weed out offensive tweets and tweeters more transparent and ask the public to comment.

He says he is worried that free speech is being sacrificed to “woke” values.