By
Svetlana Soroka
April 18th, 2024
The billionaire asked his 79.2 million followers on Twitter if a new social media platform is needed. In response to a user who asked when Musk would build one, he has stated that he is seriously considering it.
Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk is considering a launch of his own social media platform since his appearance on Twitter faces criticism from the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). According to Musk, Twitter fails to “adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy.”
Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy.
What should be done? https://t.co/aPS9ycji37
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 26, 2022
Prior to that, Elon Musk even conducted a poll last week asking if Twitter users believe the social media platform “rigorously adheres” to principles of free speech. As a result of the poll, 70 % of users (which is over two million votes) agreed that Twitter does not fully follow free speech principles.
Further, the billionaire asked his 79.2 million followers if a new social media platform is needed. In response to a user who asked when Musk would build one, he has stated that he is seriously considering it.
Am giving serious thought to this
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 27, 2022
Elon Musk has long been an advocate of free speech, calling himself a ‘free speech absolutist.’ Lately, he has been using his Twitter profile not only to discuss crypto-related topics but also to speak on the crisis in Ukraine. Earlier in March, he tweeted that Starlink satellites that he sent to keep Ukraine online in case its internet infrastructure is damaged following the attacks were approached to block Russian news sources, but that the internet provider would not do so. As Musk has said, he was asked by some governments to ban Russian media from broadcasting on SpaceX’s internet system but he said that won’t happen “unless at gunpoint”.
Musk and SEC’s Social Media Saga
Elon Musk got into hot water in February when the US SEC started investigating whether the stock sales by Elon and his brother, Kimbal Musk, violated insider trading rules.” Back in 2018, Elon Musk wrote a tweet saying that he secured sufficient financing for a substantial private buyer of Tesla stock at $420 per share. However, the stock fluctuated throughout the month, and there was nothing to show for the funding deal the CEO mentioned. As a result, the SEC charged Musk with making “false and misleading” statements. In addition, the billionaire paid $20 million in fines and had to step down as chairman of Tesla for a minimum of three years. The SEC also obliged Musk to get a kind of pre-approval for his Tweets.
Recently, we reported that Musk was trying to abandon the subpoena regarding pe-approval of his Tweets. But according to the SEC, ‘a deal is a deal’ and Musk’s Tweets must be monitored.