The entrepreneur and business magnate Elon Musk has been appointed to the board of Twitter, it was announced today.

Earlier in the week, Mr Musk had bought a 9.2% stake in Twitter, which worked out to approximately 73.5 million shares.

His stake is considered a passive investment, which means he is a long-term investor looking to minimise his buying and selling of the shares.

He has been raising questions about the ability to communicate freely on Twitter, tweeting last month about free speech and the social media platform.

Now Mr Musk is in a position to lead such changes, as he has been appointed as a board member.

Parag Agrawal, the CEO of Twitter, tweeted: "I’m excited to share that we’re appointing @elonmusk to our board! Through conversations with Elon in recent weeks, it became clear to us that he would bring great value to our Board.

"He’s both a passionate believer and intense critic of the service which is exactly what we need on @Twitter, and in the boardroom, to make us stronger in the long-term. Welcome Elon!"

Mr Musk replied to Mr Agrawal's tweet, posting: "Looking forward to working with Parag & Twitter board to make significant improvements to Twitter in coming months!"

This announcement drew a mixed reaction, with one Twitter user writing: "Unfortunately, I am not particularly excited about this. I’m not a fan of his, and believe there’s no value to this platform with him on the board. Watch your back."

Others replied to Mr Musk's tweet with suggestions for how to improve the site, such as to add an edit button.