Elon Musk mulls over creating social media platform
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NEW YORK • Billionaire Elon Musk, chief executive of Tesla Inc, said in tweets that he is giving serious thought to creating a social media platform because Twitter is "failing to adhere to free speech principles".
"Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy," he tweeted at the weekend.
Mr Musk was responding to a Twitter user's question on whether he would consider building a social media platform consisting of an open source algorithm and one that would prioritise free speech, and where propaganda was minimal.
He said in an earlier tweet last Friday that "free speech is essential to a functioning democracy", and he questioned if Twitter "rigorously adheres to this principle".
His tweet comes a day after he put out a Twitter poll asking users if they believed Twitter adheres to the principle of free speech, to which over 70 per cent voted "no".
"The consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully," he said last Friday.
Last week, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) told a judge that Mr Musk's tweets about Tesla will remain a valid subject for government investigation even if a court throws out his 2018 agreement with the SEC.
Mr Musk is seeking to end oversight by the SEC of his Twitter posts, claiming the agreement is being used to "trample" his rights to free speech.
He is also asking the court to block a subpoena by the securities regulator for documents relating to the review of his tweets.
Under the SEC settlement agreement, the regulator will distribute funds from the company and Mr Musk to investors who lost money buying Tesla shares, after Mr Musk claimed on Twitter he was thinking about taking the company public.
REUTERS, BLOOMBERG
