Elon Musk still needs pre-approval for his tweets, US judge rejects bid to end oversight

Elon Musk may soon own Twitter, but that doesn’t mean he can tweet whatever he wants about Tesla. Musk still must have his tweets about his electric car company Tesla pre-approved after a US judge on Wednesday rejected an appeal to free him from oversight.

So declared a federal judge Wednesday, who determined that — despite the billionaire’s plea — Musk cannot simply get out of a previously agreed to 2018 settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) merely because he feels like it. That agreement, which required Musk to pay a $20 million settlement and step down from his role as Tesla’s chairman for a period of three years, followed an extremely ill-considered 2018 “funding secured” tweet from Musk, and included a provision that any tweet by the Tesla CEO concerning his car company get pre-approved by Tesla’s lawyers.

The SEC also charged Musk with fraud and ordered him to step down as chair of Tesla’s board of directors, pay a $20 million fine and, after another unfortunate tweet in early 2019, demanded his tweets directly related to business of the company be pre-approved by a competent lawyer.

Musk said he was forced to agree to the deal, and denies lying to shareholders.

However, “Musk’s claim that he was the victim of economic duress is wholly unpersuasive,” Judge Lewis Liman wrote in his ruling.

The judge also rejected Musk’s request to quash part of the SEC’s demand for documents about his November 6, 2021 tweet calling for followers to vote on whether he should sell 10 per cent of his Tesla stock.

Elon Musk on Tuesday clarified what he meant by “free speech” on Tuesday, a day after the billionaire tech entrepreneur’s Twitter takeover deal was confirmed. “Free speech” has played prominently in Musk’s plans for the social media giant.

It’s unclear if the latest ruling will have any discernible impact on Musk’s Twitter habit. Time and time again, since 2018, Musk has repeatedly tweeted about Tesla.

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