Read about Elon Musk acquires Twitter or how Elon Musk has just cleared any doubt that he wants to acquire Twitter.

Elon Musk has spent the last few weeks publicly criticizing the operation of Twitter and even accusing the social network of hiding information, in a move that some considered an attempt to get out of his purchase agreement of the company. His first meeting with Twitter staff, held on Thursday, allayed many of those concerns.

"I love Twitter," Musk said during the event. "I want to be clear about this, I love Twitter."

Musk began the meeting by agreeing "of course" to participate in another one in the future when asked by Leslie Berland, Twitter's marketing director and head of people, who was acting as moderator of the call. He then proved Berland right when he told him that "the only reason you're here today is because you love Twitter" and because he "wants to buy" the company.

He then proceeded to explain the various reasons why that's true, according to an audio recording of the quote that the source has had access to. "I feel like I learn a lot from what I read and see on Twitter," Musk said. "I also think it's a great way to get messages across."

Elon Musk acquires Twitter

Until now, Musk said, a company or an executive in his position would have to create a "fairly propagandistic" press release in the hope that the media would favourably cover something they had to say. Now, he can speak directly to tens of millions of people, "not through the lens of the media."

Twitter shares fell about 2% during Thursday trading to $37 per share, a sign that investors expect the deal to go through at a lower-than-agreed price of $54.20 per share. However, the company's shares did not fall as much as tech stocks in general, which were down more than 4% on the day.

Other reasons Musk wants to acquire Twitter, he said, are that it is a place where people can communicate without a "negative gaze," another scourge that he believes affects traditional media.

He said having a place where millions of people can meet and talk to each other goes even beyond the "people's square" description he has used for Twitter before.

Elon Musk acquires Twitter statement

"You can't have millions of people in a square, but you have millions of people on Twitter," Musk said. "That's an incredibly important and essential thing for a democracy to work. For it to work well, I think it is essential to have freedom of expression and to communicate freely."

When it comes to free speech and moderation concerns expressed by many Twitter employees, Musk seems to have softened a bit his previous stance that the platform should remove many of the rules it currently has.

During the meeting, he explained for the first time, without being asked, that there is a difference between "freedom of expression and freedom of information."

"Freedom of speech is one thing," Musk continued. "Anyone can go to Times Square right now and say whatever they want. They can deny the Holocaust, okay? That doesn't mean you have to promote it to millions of people. So, I think people can say outrageous things within the limits of the law, but it doesn't have to be something spread."

Elon Musk acquires Twitter comments

Much of Twitter's current moderation policies revolve around "downgrading" false and offensive posts or making that content less visible and accessible to users but leaving it on the platform.

Finally, one of the reasons Musk said he wants to buy Twitter is its potential to grow as a business and be something even more "useful" for potentially 1,000 million people around the world. He wants it to be more like WeChat, he said, bringing up the app that has become key to the way people in China chat, shop, eat and pay for services.

"If we achieve that, or get close to that with Twitter," Musk said, "it would be a success."