Thursday, March 28

Elon Musk says he’s considering building a new social media platform


Elon Musk pauses and looks down as he speaks during a press conference at SpaceX’s Starbase facility near Boca Chica Village in South Texas on February 10, 2022.

JimWatson | AFP | Getty Images

Elon Musk said he is giving “serious thought” to building a new social media platform in a Tweet on Saturday. He did not share any specifics on what the hypothetical social media platform would look like or how it would work.

The Tesla and SpaceX billionaire made the remark after claiming that Twitter doesn’t allow for free speech.

On Friday, Musk tweeted: “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?” He followed up asking whether a new platform is needed.

In another Tweet Friday, Musk said “free speech is essential to a functioning democracy” and questioned if Twitter “rigorously adheres to this principle.”

Twitter, which claims it is committed to freedom of expressiondid not immediately respond to a CNBC request for comment.

Regulatory scrutiny

The Tesla CEO does not like the fact that his tweets are scrutinized by regulators.

Musk was subpoenaed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission in November after he asked his Twitter followers if he should sell 10% of his Tesla stock — causing shares to fail.

In February, Musk accused the SEC of “harassment” and making a calculated effort to “chill” his right to free speech.

He has been trying to quash the subpoena, but the SEC said last week: “Musk’s motion to quash is procedurally defective and substantively meritless.”

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The regulator told a judge that Musk’s tweets about Tesla will continue to be a reasonable subject for government investigation, even if the court throws out a 2018 agreement with the SEC that means Musk must gain pre-approval from other Tesla executives before he tweets about the company.

Following in Trump’s footsteps?

Musk wouldn’t be the first person to ditch the established social media platforms and set up their own.

Former US President Donald Trump launched Truth Social in February as part of the Trump Media and Technology Group. Trump has been banned from Twitter since January 2021.

Elsewhere, platforms including Rumble, Parler and Gettr have also launched in an effort to tempt people away from Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok.

Parler was removed from Apple’s App Store after allegations that it was used to incite violence during the Jan. 6 riots. It was re-added in April after the company made some tweaks that enabled it to better detect and moderate hate speech.

Musk has in the past proclaimed that he and his companies are working on exciting products scheduled for years into the future — but often, the proposed innovations aren’t realized within the projected timeline.

For instance, at a Tesla “Autonomy Day” event in April 2019, Musk said the company would have 1 million autonomous “robotaxis” on the road in 2020. These robotaxis still don’t exist.




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