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Elon Musk reached an agreement to buy Twitter for roughly $44 billion on Monday, promising a more lenient touch to policing content on the social media platform where he — the world’s richest person — promotes his interests, attacks critics and opines on a wide range of issues to more than 83 million followers,Associated Press reported.

The outspoken Tesla CEO has said he wanted to own and privatize Twitter because he thinks it’s not living up to its potential as a platform for free speech.

Musk said in a joint statement with Twitter that he wants to make the service “better than ever” with new features while getting rid of automated “spam″ accounts and making its algorithms open to the public to increase trust.

“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,” the 50-year-old Musk said, adding hearts, stars and rocket emojis in a tweet that highlighted the statement.

The more hands-off approach to content moderation that Musk envisions has many users concerned that the platform will become more of a haven for disinformation, hate speech and bullying, something it has worked hard in recent years to mitigate. Wall Street analysts said if he goes too far, it could also alienate advertisers.

The deal was cemented roughly two weeks after the billionaire first revealed a 9% stake in the platform. Musk said last week that he had lined up $46.5 billion in financing to buy Twitter, putting pressure on the company’s board to negotiate a deal, according to the Associated Press.

Twitter said the transaction was unanimously approved by its board of directors and is expected to close in 2022, pending regulatory sign-off and the approval of shareholders. 

Shares of Twitter Inc. rose more than 5% Monday to $51.70 per share. On April 14, Musk announced an offer to buy Twitter for $54.20 per share. While the stock is up sharply since Musk made his offer, it is well below the high of $77 per share it reached in February 2021.

Musk has described himself as a “free-speech absolutist” but is also known for blocking or disparaging other Twitter users who question or disagree with him.

In recent weeks, he has proposed relaxing Twitter content restrictions — such as the rules that suspended former President Donald Trump’s account — while ridding the platform of fake “spambot” accounts and shifting away advertising as its primary revenue model. Musk believes he can increase revenue through subscriptions that give paying customers a better experience — possibly even an ad-free version of Twitter.

Asked during a recent TED interview if there are any limits to his notion of “free speech,” Musk said Twitter would abide by national laws that restrict speech around the world. Beyond that, he said, he’d be “very reluctant” to delete posts or permanently banning users who violate the company’s rules, Associated Press reported.

It won’t be perfect, Musk added, “but I think we want it to really have the perception and reality that speech is as free as reasonably possible.” 

After the deal was announced, the NAACP released a statement urging Musk not to allow Trump, the 45th president, back onto the platform. 

“Do not allow 45 to return to the platform,” the civil rights organization said in a statement. “Do not allow Twitter to become a petri dish for hate speech or falsehoods that subvert our democracy.” 

As both candidate and president, Trump made Twitter a powerful megaphone for speaking directly to the public, often using incendiary and divisive language on hot-button issues. He was permanently banned from the service in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 storming of the Capitol, according to the Associated Press.

The seventh memorial day of the Gorkha earthquake is being observed across the country by organizing various programs.

On 25 April, 2015, a 7.6 magnitude earthquake hit the country with its epicenter in Gorkha’s Barpak.

The disaster killed approximately 9,000 people and injured over 22,000 others. It damaged over 800,000 private houses and 1500 cultural heritages.

Districts including Gorkha, Kathmandu, Lalitpur, Bhaktapur, Kavrepalanchok, Sindhupalchok, Dolakha, Ramechhap, Nuwakot, Dhading, Rasuwa, Makawanpur, Sindhuli and Okhaldhunga—were affected the most by the quake.

Observation of the quake memorial day aims to make people aware about earthquake safety, it has been said.

Nepal reported 21 new Covid-19 cases on Monday.

According to the Ministry of Health and Population, 4, 775 swab samples were tested today, of which 21 returned positive.

The Ministry said that no one died of virus in the last 24 hours. The Ministry said that 17 infected people recovered from the disease.

As of today, there are 271?active cases in the country.

Property worth around Rs 75 million was destroyed in a fire that broke at a hardware store in Kameratar, Bhaktapur on Monday.

According to the Metropolitan Police Range, Bhaktapur, the fire broke out at the hardware store of Rajan Prajapati this morning.

Police said that the fire engulfed pipes and other hardware materials.

The reason behind the fire is yet to be established, police said.