Analysis-Twitter exploring a sale would make free speech an afterthought

FILE PHOTO: People holding mobile phones are silhouetted against a backdrop projected with the Twitter logo in this illustration picture taken September 27, 2013. REUTERS/Kacper Pempel/Illustration/File Photo

(Reuters) - Twitter Inc's board directors can lean on concerns about the fate of the social media platform under Elon Musk to rebuff him, but if they decide to explore a sale, price will override all other considerations, corporate governance experts said.

The San Francisco-based company received a $43 billion "best and final" offer from Musk last week, which it is still reviewing. Musk, the world's richest person and CEO of Tesla Inc, has said he wants to make Twitter an "arena for free speech," cheering Twitter's critics who complain about censorship and alarming those worried about hate speech and bullying.