Now that we know Elon Musk is set to buy Twitter, what's next?

On Monday, Twitter confirmed the billionaire and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX plans to acquire the social media company in a deal valued at $44 billion.

Once the deal closes, which is expected to happen this year, Twitter will become a privately held company.

Start the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning.

"Twitter has tremendous potential – I look forward to working with the company and the community of users to unlock it," said Musk in a statement.

What does Musk's plan mean for the future of Twitter and its users? How is everyone responding to the idea of Twitter under new ownership? Here's everything we know so far.

Why is Elon Musk buying Twitter?

Musk has long criticized the platform for how it moderates content. When Musk first proposed buying Twitter this month, he said he initially invested in the service because of its potential as a global platform for free speech.

"However, since making my investment I now realize the company will neither thrive nor serve this societal imperative in its current form," wrote Musk. "Twitter needs to be transformed as a private company.”

How will Twitter change?

Musk's comments on free speech suggest the billionaire could loosen rules on how tweets are moderated. However, experts fear a service that already struggles to wrangle disinformation and harassment will become worse.

Brett Molina, USA TODAY - 16m ago