Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and owner of a social media network called X Corp. (previously known as Twitter), is not happy about an agreement he made with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). This agreement requires Musk to get his posts about Tesla screened before posting them on his social media platform.
In a recent move, Musk has asked the US Supreme Court to review and potentially invalidate this agreement. He argues that the agreement goes against his right to free speech, which is protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Musk believes that having his posts screened in advance is a form of censorship, known as prior restraint, and is therefore unconstitutional.
However, a federal appeals court previously ruled against Musk in May. The court rejected Musk’s arguments, stating in a seven-page order that there is no evidence supporting Musk’s claim that the SEC is using the agreement to harass or conduct bad-faith investigations into his protected speech.
This legal battle between Musk and the SEC started after a tweet Musk made in 2018 where he claimed to have “funding secured” to take Tesla private. This led to a surge in Tesla’s stock, and the SEC filed a lawsuit against Musk and Tesla, alleging that they misled shareholders. The case was eventually settled, with Musk and Tesla each paying a $20 million fine, and an agreement was reached that Musk’s Tesla-related tweets would be reviewed by a lawyer before being posted.
Now, Musk is taking the matter to the Supreme Court, arguing that the screening of his social media posts violates his constitutional rights. The case is officially titled Musk v. Securities and Exchange Commission, and it is yet to be assigned a docket number.
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