African-American tech entrepreneur Elon Musk responded to reports on Thursday that Twitter would “rather self-immolate than give up their censorship programs,” and asked Saudi Arabian Prince Alwaleed bin Talal how many shares the former holds in Twitter after the Saudi royal family announced plans to “reject” Musk’s offer to buy Twitter.
“Twitter is considering a poison pill to thwart @elonmusk’s offer,” cryptocurrency investor Cameron Winklevoss tweeted. “They would rather self-immolate than give up their censorship programs. This shows you how deeply committed they are to Orwellian control of the narratives and global discourse. Scary.”
In response, Musk stated, “If the current Twitter board takes actions contrary to shareholder interests, they would be breaching their fiduciary duty.”
“The liability they would thereby assume would be titanic in scale,” Musk added.
If the current Twitter board takes actions contrary to shareholder interests, they would be breaching their fiduciary duty.
The liability they would thereby assume would be titanic in scale.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2022
The Saudi Prince had stated on Thursday that “I don’t believe that the proposed offer from @elonmusk ($54.20) comes close to the intrinsic value of @Twitter given its growth prospects,” and touted his position as “one of the largest and long-term shareholders” of the company.
“Interesting,’ Musk responded in a Twitter reply. “Just two questions, if I may. How much of Twitter does the Kingdom own, directly & indirectly? What are the Kingdom’s views on journalistic freedom of speech?”
Interesting. Just two questions, if I may.
How much of Twitter does the Kingdom own, directly & indirectly?
What are the Kingdom’s views on journalistic freedom of speech?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2022
Another user linked a 2019 New York Times report titled “Former Twitter Employees Charged With Spying for Saudi Arabia,” writing, “Hey Elon, don’t forget about this doozy.” Musk responded with an emoji often used to signal strong quizzical interest.
🧐
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 14, 2022
Twitter employees, often criticized for forcing their political biases on users via censorship and account bans, have responded to Musk’s interest in buying the platform with panic and hysteria.
Musk’s support for the First Amendment has “some Twitter employees panicking over the future of the social media firm’s ability to moderate content.”
