World News: The Daily Money: Will Elon allow Trump, extremists back on Twitter?

ALL THE MONEY NEWS YOU NEED TO KNOW

Tuesday, April 26

New to the newsletter? Subscribe to The Daily Money to get the best consumer and financial news from USA TODAY delivered to your inbox every weekday morning. And give our news-inspired Spotify playlist a listen. It features every song quoted here.

Happy Tuesday, Daily Money readers. Jayme Deerwester back with you.

What will Twitter look like under Elon?

Elon Musk, who struck a $44-billion deal to buy Twitter on Monday, is a libertarian and self-described "free speech absolutist," who has made it clear that he supports more unbridled expression on Twitter.

Once he gains control of Twitter, will the world's richest person welcome back extremists banned for spreading hate, violence and lies in recent years?

"Only a matter of time before Elon flips the switch and we get our accounts back," one QAnon influencer wrote on social media platform Telegram. However, experts don't expect him to open the spigot to full-blast.

But how about the only sitting U.S. president ever to be banned from Twitter?

Musk has not said whether he would reinstate Donald Trump. Twitter permanently banned Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol riots, citing "the risk of further incitement of violence."

The company's chief financial officer Ned Segal said last year that Trump would not be allowed on Twitter again even if he runs for president and wins in 2024. Trump, for his part, says he'll stick with his newly-created venture, Truth Social.

However, Musk also has strong financial motives to lure back Trump, who is just the kind of mega personality who drives engagement on the platform.

"Musk makes electric cars and rocket ships, but he's really made his fortune in commanding and influencing attention. He understands how to do it and I think his closest peer there is Donald Trump," says Emerson Brooking, resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council's Digital Forensic Research Lab.

📰 More headlines you can't miss 📰

GASOLINE ISN'T THE ONLY GAS PRICE GOING UP: Expect an 'extremely volatile' year for natural gas.

MOVE OVER, MACH-E MUSTANG: GM confirms it will offer an all-electric Corvette.

AMAZON GO: Inside the new cashierless store moving in to the suburbs.

WELLS FARGO SUED: Bank accused of discriminating against Black mortgage customers.

SOCIAL SECURITY: These 3 mistakes could cost you money you're entitled to.

Will we be paying more in credit card fees?

Processing fees, or "swipe" fees, on credit cards are likely rising for millions of businesses, but whether this is a classic case of corporate greed at the expense of consumers depends on who you ask.

Visa and Mastercard, the top two payments networks in the U.S. with more than 70% of the market, recently changed their fee structures for merchants who accept their credit cards for payments.

Mastercard says it's lowering costs for all merchants with transactions below $5 and Visa says it's cutting its rates by 10% for more than 90% of small businesses, which Reuters earlier reported meant those with $250,000 or less in credit card volume. Both say these types of changes are going to help make small businesses more competitive against big-box retailers and benefit local shoppers.

However, only an extremely narrow segment of merchants with a small overall transaction volume might benefit from the new fee structure, critics say. The bulk of retailers will see increased costs, which will trickle down to consumers already struggling to make ends meet amid the highest inflation in 40 years.