Does this mean that we should expect to see a bias in the content that Twitter allows, to favor Saudi interests or to paint the kingdom in a more favorable way, in the future?
I'm... not sure how effective it would be. The American political class has shown bipartisan support for the U.S.-Saudi relationship for a long time. That has begun to change in the last few years, and especially since the btutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi. There is now a non-insignificant group of national level Democratic politicians who vocally argue for a reassessment of the relationship between the two countries. The Democratic Party being in power approximately half the time, it would be in the kingdom's interest to sway some of these Democrats back to the traditional consensus. But there are few potential avenues for Saudi Arabia to do that, and I hardly see Twitter being one of them. Twitter is ingraining itself in the public consciousness as a toxic cesspool of right-wing users now that Elon Musk has taken charge. A public pressure campaign waged on Twitter won't sway leftist Democrats.
Really, more effectively could the House of Saud ingratiate itself with the American voter by using its influence in OPEC to apply downward pressure on oil prices, and otherwise staying out of the news.
What we are seeing is Saudi people who tweeted or liked tweets critical of the Saudi regime being arrested and held prisoner if they visit the kingdom.
Since Twitter is now a private company, its owners are free of the host of laws that publicly traded firms have to abide by. There are many things the kingdom could offer Musk in return for a say in Twitter's content. Like money, in such form as personal bribes, donations to his foundation, tax breaks to open a SpaceX office in SA, etc.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-twitter-alwaleed-idUSTRE7...