Breaking: US Supreme Court Rejects Elon Musk’s Appeal on Tesla Posts

The US Supreme Court rejected an appeal from Elon Musk in his “Twitter sitter” case. This leaves the agreement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) intact to have an in-house lawyer to pre-approve his social media posts related to Tesla.

Elon Musk Lost Appeal in Tesla Posts

Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk has lost an appeal against the U.S. SEC as the U.S. Supreme Court justices refused to even hear contentions put forward in the appeal. Musk signed the accord with the SEC in 2018 to pre-approve his social media posts on electric carmaker Tesla with an in-house lawyer.

Musk argued that the agreement he signed in 2018 violates his constitutional free speech rights. The justices were unfazed by the allegations and simply refused without any comment.

Musk continues to fight with the SEC over his social media posts since he tweeted in August 2018 that he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private. The tweet followed a skyrocketing share price of Tesla, causing the SEC to bring a legal action for misleading its shareholders. In the same week itself, Musk settled with the SEC agreeing to resign as Tesla chairman and pay $20 million of the deal.

The agreement is a “quintessential prior restraint that the law forbids,” Musk’s lawyers argued in the Supreme Court appeal. “The pre-approval provision at issue continues to cast an unconstitutional chill over Mr. Musk’s speech whenever he considers making public communications.”

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Musk Buying Twitter for Freedom of Speech

Elon Musk again saw subpoenas from the SEC in 2021 after he posted a Twitter poll asking whether he should sell 10% of his stock. Musk lawyers filed appeals against the subpoena and argued for his freedom of speech. However, a federal appeals court rejected his contentions last year.

The SEC filed opposition to Elon Musk’s appeal and requested the court to reject those arguments without a hearing as he voided his pre-screening agreement and posted about Tesla company. “This court has consistently held that, in resolving litigation, parties may choose to waive even fundamental constitutional rights,” the SEC said in a brief filed by US Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, the Biden administration’s top Supreme Court lawyer.

Musk continues to fight for freedom of speech on the acquired social media platform Twitter (now X). The dramatic acquisition of Twitter was a rare one that saw mass layoffs, resignations, and lawsuits. Elon Musk now aims to develop X into an everything app, picking up rivalry with industry giants such as Disney.

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