Elon Musk recently lost his bid to remove his “Twitter sitter” as per a legal agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC agreement requires Musk to seek legal approval for any posts he makes on Twitter about Tesla. Despite his claims that the agreement limits his freedom of speech, the Supreme Court rejected his appeal.
Musk settled with the SEC in 2018 after tweeting about plans to take Tesla private, which was found to be misleading. In a separate filing, Musk quoted Eminem lyrics in a challenge to the settlement. Musk’s lawyers argued that the agreement forced him to seek approval even for truthful and accurate statements, and subjected him to the threat of fines, contempt, or imprisonment for unapproved posts.
Musk has a history of conflicts with government agencies, including criticizing the SEC and calling President Joe Biden derogatory names. He has also challenged Brazil’s legal authorities. The SEC recently initiated a new investigation into Tesla’s self-driving technology, which has faced scrutiny from regulators and has been linked to numerous crashes. Tesla and X have not yet commented on the Supreme Court’s decision regarding Musk’s appeal.
