Catch up TV

Episode 21 April 2025

In 2006, a group of tech entrepreneurs created the revolutionary social media app Twitter. In just a few years, it transformed the way the world communicated. Using first-hand accounts from its founders and early employees, this is the inside story of how Twitter was invented, how it spread across the world through explosive growth, and how difficult it became to control the volume of hate speech and misinformation posted on the platform. \n\nAt first, the site grew on the back of celebrities who realised it offered them a direct way to communicate with their fans. After it went global, adopted by democracy activists across the world, it seemed to be fulfilling the founders' dream of a digital utopia where all voices would be heard. But as hate speech and misinformation flooded the platform, Twitter faced growing problems in its attempts to control them. The sale of Twitter to Elon Musk in 2022 represented the final end of the founders’ utopian dream.

Source: BBC 2