- The US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) on Monday rejected Elon Musk's appeal against a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that mandated that he receive prior approval for Tesla-related tweets. The Hill
- Musk had challenged the settlement's constitutionality, arguing that restrictions on his social media posts and Tesla-related public communications would violate his First Amendment rights. USA Today (LR: 3 CP: 5)
- Musk's bid to revise the settlement's terms was rejected by an appeals court last year. The SCOTUS decision indicates that the lower court's ruling stands, and the settlement's "Twitter sitter" provision, remains. www.axios.com
- Musk's appeal stems from a 2018 tweet, in which he claimed to have secured the funding needed to take Tesla private at $420 per share. The tweet elevated the company shares and led to a temporary pause in trading. Associated Press (LR: 3 CP: 5)
- After the SEC alleged that the tweets had violated securities laws' antifraud provisions and brought an enforcement action against him, Musk paid a $20M fine, agreed to the "Twitter sitter" provision, and stepped down as Tesla's chairman. Forbes (LR: 3 CP: 5)
Establishment-critical narrative:
- The SEC is unfairly policing Musk's speech and violating his First Amendment rights. The so-called "Twitter Sitter" clause unfairly inhibits his speech by threatening penalties for posting unapproved statements even if his words are true. Although Musk originally agreed to the provision in the settlement, the terms are unconstitutional, and the SEC has since misused it to limit Musk's freedom.
BLOOMBERG (LR: 3 CP: 5)
Pro-establishment narrative:
- There's no evidence to support Musk's claims that the SEC has improperly used its previous agreement with Musk to unfairly police his speech. Musk made false and misleading claims on social media that led to market disruption, and he agreed to a settlement to take responsibility for his mistake. The "Twitter Sitter" provision was put in place to ensure the same situation doesn't happen again and the deal should be honored.
CNN (LR: 2 CP: 5)
Nerd narrative:
- There's a 66% chance that Elon Musk will face US federal criminal charges or an SEC civil complaint before 2026, according to the Metaculus prediction community.
METACULUS (LR: 3 CP: 3)