“Free speech” includes all speech that’s consistent with the law, and if people want less free speech they will ask the government to pass laws to that effect, Elon Musk tweeted a day after his $44-billion takeover deal for Twitter was accepted. He was presumably speaking about the law in countries where speech is fiercely protected, because according to various experts, “free speech Twitter” won’t fly in countries such as India.

Credit: Giphy

Also in this letter:
■ Flipkart rolls out policy changes to attract new sellers
■ Customer sends notice to Ola Electric for posting data online
■ Alphabet misses on revenue as Ukraine war hits YouTube ad biz

---

Free speech must be consistent with the law, Musk says

Elon Musk has tried to clarify what he meant by “free speech” on Twitter, a day after the social media company accepted his $44 billion takeover deal.

What he said: Musk stated that free expression must be consistent with the law, and that he opposes censorship that goes beyond the law.

“The extreme antibody reaction from those who fear free speech says it all,” Musk said in a cryptic tweet, referring to his critics.

He added in a subsequent tweet, “By ‘free speech’, I simply mean that which matches the law. I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law. If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws to that effect. Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people.”

Trouble ahead? “Free speech” has been prominent in Musk’s stated plans for the social media platform. But several experts told us the Tesla CEO’s $44-billion takeover offer for Twitter could lead to more run-ins with governments in countries such as India, where free speech isn’t protected as fiercely as it is in the US.

Tesla stock crashes: Meanwhile, Tesla lost $126 billion in value on Tuesday amid investor concerns that Musk may have to sell shares to fund his $21 billion equity contribution to his $44-billion buyout of Twitter.

Tesla is not involved in the Twitter deal, yet its shares have been targeted by speculators after Musk declined to disclose publicly where his cash for the acquisition is coming from.

The 12.2% drop in Tesla’s shares on Tuesday equated to a $21 billion drop in the value of his Tesla stake, the same amount in cash he has committed to the Twitter deal.

Truth Social ahead of Twitter in the US: On Wednesday, Musk shared a screenshot of the most-downloaded free apps on Apple’s App Store in the US, saying, “Truth Social is currently beating Twitter & TikTok on the Apple Store.”

Truth Social is a new social media platform owned by former US president Donald Trump, which he created as an alternative to Twitter (at least in the US) after he was banned from the social media platform in early 2021.

Also Read: Jack Dorsey to take home nearly $1 billion once Elon Musk’s Twitter deal closes

---

Flipkart cuts payment cycle among other policy changes to attract new sellers

Flipkart said it has made changes to its marketplace policy and added features to attract new sellers.

In a nutshell: The changes include reducing the payment settlement cycle from 15 days to 7-10 days, 10-minute seller onboarding, and guaranteed returns through sales from advertisements placed on Flipkart. It currently has over 4.2 lakh sellers on the marketplace.

Reducing friction with tech: Harode said 10-minute onboarding was one of the key new features to attract more sellers.

He said the feature has been live since last week on a pilot basis and the company has seen a 60% jump in seller acquisitions compared to the same time last year.

Its new listing feature (the process of adding products to the platform, with pictures and other details) also uses technology to reduce friction.

The company has also introduced a new advertisement policy under which sellers get guaranteed returns on the money they spend to advertise on Flipkart.

Competition: Flipkart competitor Meesho also recently changed its seller policy. The company said on March 10 that it had reduced its payout cycle for sellers from 15 days to seven and that it wouldn’t charge sellers for canceled orders.

---

Customer sends notice to Ola Electric for making telemetry data public

The father of an Ola Electric customer has sent the company a takedown notice for posting his son’s electric scooter’s telemetry data on social media.

Tell me more: Balwant Singh from Guwahati tweeted on April 15 that his son had met with an accident “due to fault in regenerative braking where on a speed breaker, instead of slowing, the scooter accelerated, sending so much torque that he had an accident”.

Ola said last week that its investigation showed the rider had been speeding and posted the scooter’s telemetry data online. Singh said in doing so it had violated his right to privacy.

He tweeted, with a screenshot of the takedown notice, “My notice to @OlaElectric to immediately take down my telemetry data which they have published in public without my consent, violating privacy laws & the graphs whose authenticity has not been verified by me/law agencies. Failure to do so, I will take legal action against @bhash (Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal).”

Meanwhile, Ola Electric has voluntarily recalled 1,441 e-scooters as a pre-emptive measure after an S1 Pro caught fire in Pune on March 26.

Tweet of the day

---

Alphabet misses on revenue as Ukraine war hits YouTube ad biz

Alphabet has reported weaker-than-expected earnings for the March quarter. Though Google’s parent company witnessed a 23% rise in the revenue in the first quarter of calender year 2022, net income slipped over a billion dollars to $16.43 billion from $17.93 billion last year.

What happened? In 2021, Alphabet registered stellar quarterly numbers with annual revenue of $257 billion. However, with expenses up compared to 2021, the net profit slipped more than experts had predicted.

War impact: YouTube numbers sharply missed estimates as ad sales remained under pressure due to the Russia-Ukraine war as the company stopped ad sales in Russia and brand advertisers. YouTube advertising sales of $6.9 billion missed analysts’ target of $7.5 billion.

Uncertainty looms: Alphabet’s CFO Ruth Porat said it was too early to predict when sales, slowed by the war (Russia’s invasion of Ukraine), may pick up. He also warned that the strengthening US dollar would hurt sales even more in the current quarter. Google overall derived 1% of its sales in 2021 from Russia, Porat said.

Microsoft beats estimates: Meanwhile, Microsoft beat Wall Street profit and revenue expectations, benefiting from demand for the software giant’s cloud-based services from the pandemic-triggered shift to hybrid work models.

---

Traditional banks use neobanks to tap tech-savvy customers: report

Traditional banks and new-age digital entities known as neobanks are partnering to deliver a new experience to India’s financial sector, which is on the verge of a digital revolution.

According to a report by Redseer Strategy Consultants, neobanks in India are just getting started and have a lot of room to develop. Personalised experiences, data-driven insights, improved user interfaces, and value-added services can all help neobanks cement their position among India’s retail banking clients.

What the report said: Collaboration benefits both parties, giving neobanks a stronger footing and traditional banks access to young, tech-inclined customers.

• Neobanks should acquire primary bank accounts to scale and gain a bigger presence.
• White-collar salary accounts with a lifetime value of 10X appear to be an addressable market and the best route ahead.

Potential: The Indian fintech market – valued at $31 billion in 2021 – is the world’s third-largest fintech ecosystem after the United States and China and primed for more disruption with the emergence of neobanks.

Today’s ETtech Top 5 newsletter was curated by Arun Padmanabhan in New Delhi, Zaheer Merchant and Aishwarya Dabhade in Mumbai. Graphics and illustrations by Rahul Awasthi.