Democrats consider dragging Elon Musk to Congress over Twitter buyout
Democrats have become increasingly vigilant over 'disinformation' on social media and have raised concerns that Musk’s refusal to censor conservatives may allow bad actors to manipulate public opinion.
Democrat senators are deliberating whether to haul Elon Musk into Congress to hold a hearing over his takeover of Twitter.
As Rebel News reported on Monday, Twitter and the Tesla CEO reached a $44 billion agreement to sell the company in its entirety to Musk. The acquisition of the company comes weeks after Musk criticized the platform’s failure to uphold the principles of free speech. Musk said that he wants to bring the company in line with First Amendment principles and overhaul its moderation policies.
Democrats have become increasingly vigilant over the spread of “disinformation” on social media platforms, and have raised concerns that Musk’s refusal to censor conservatives may allow bad actors to manipulate public opinion to the detriment of democratic institutions.
“We’re thinking about it,” said Senate Commerce Chair Maria Cantwell (D-WA) to Bloomberg in response to a question on whether Democrats planned to hold a hearing with Musk.
The Senate Commerce Committee previously held hearings with Big Tech executives, including former Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey and Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The committee has also grilled Google boss Sundar Pichai.
Democrat Sen. Ed Markey (D-MA), who sits on the committee, told Bloomberg that the Senate wants to know what Musk’s plans are for moderating the platform following his takeover.
“It’s a technology which is central to democracy and our economy and it is important for the representatives of the American people to hear what the new owners intend on using that technology to accomplish,” Markey said. “We have to understand the censorship or lack thereof, content moderation or not, that is going to be the policy for the new owner.”
“In terms of what the values are that this company is going to be creating for the new Elon Musk Twitter world, I think that’s actually a necessary role for Congress to play,” he added.
Markey’s remarks were echoed by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) who said that there is a “powerful imperative to ask him to tell Congress and the American people how he’s going to address concerns that we’ve raised.”
Republicans in contrast have largely expressed their support for Musk’s takeover of the company. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) declared Musk’s acquisition “the biggest development for free speech in decades.”
Elon Musk purchasing Twitter is the biggest development for free speech in decades.
— Senator Ted Cruz (@SenTedCruz) April 27, 2022
There is a reason why Big Tech liberals want to silence conservatives – they know that freedom and free enterprise wins! pic.twitter.com/Pb7WH4lLqD
“There is a reason why Big Tech liberals want to silence conservatives — they know that freedom and free enterprise wins!” he added.
Musk’s efforts to acquire Twitter will not be finalized for a few more months.
- By Ezra Levant
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