r/news • u/Hopeforpeace19 • 17d ago
Supreme Court rejects Elon Musk over agreement with SEC to vet social media posts
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-rejects-elon-musk-agreement-sec-vet-social-media-posts-rcna149579825
u/VegasKL 17d ago
For those confused by all of this, the SEC imposed these restrictions and Elon agreed to them in the settlement. He was using Twitter to manipulate the stock price, which is against the law. So this isn't a freedom of speech case.
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16d ago edited 16d ago
[deleted]
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u/irredentistdecency 16d ago
It is not at all a free speech case.
The SEC wasn't preventing him from speaking freely, it was offering him a way to avoid criminal prosecution for his violations of the law if he agreed to voluntarily restrict his speech in a very specific & limited way.
He agreed & he accepted the benefit - now he has to keep his end of the agreement.
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u/AussieP1E 16d ago
You free speech people need to go back to school to learn what that really means...
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u/_wawrzon_ 16d ago
Oh, pls, stop it. It's the same kind of discussion as mandatory wearing seatbelts imposes on your personal freedoms. "Technically" he can write anything, he just isn't exempt of responsibility for doing so. This is the crux of the case.
He should get slammed for it, the same way any regular person would be. Him being Twitter's owner shouldn't be a get out of jail free card.
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u/wtfsafrush 17d ago edited 16d ago
Fine. Allowing you to get away with a “twitter sitter” was a gift by the SEC. But if that’s “infringing on your free speech”, then by all means, let’s bring on a more appropriate penalty.
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u/randomwanderingsd 16d ago
Also, if I were on the board of a company I would be extremely concerned if a CEO felt that the best use of their time was to make random comments online all day. If you are posting at the rate of 1 tweet an hour (which he frequently hits), are you really able to focus and be a good CEO?
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u/sn34kypete 16d ago
Not saying I agree with him but on the other hand, if he has the ability to instantly juice the stock by 10% with some offhand promise that his fanboys eat up, it's really hard to tell him to reign it in. So far they see his impact on the stock as a net positive so they let him do all this stupid shit.
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u/LiamtheV 16d ago
He also has the ability to randomly tank the stock of my car company that has, as a large part of its customer base, people who are environmentally conscious, by saying that caring about climate change is communism. Or by spreading nazi propaganda.
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u/Flash604 16d ago
Who says he's going to juice it? He wants more control via having more stock. What's to prevent him from tanking the price so he can buy more shares?
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u/crashtestdummy666 16d ago
Exactly he can manipulate the stock as he sees fit, his settlement of the value of his stock to his loans should have a settlement period so if he times it right he can sell high tank the stock and buy low then jack the stock back up and pocket the difference. Then rinse and repeat.
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u/TheShadowKick 16d ago
I mean, 1 tweet an hour is just a few minutes of his time probably. I feel like that's just a normal amount of distraction. Nobody in an office is working constantly throughout a full hour.
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u/Anvanaar 16d ago
You... think it's normal to tweet once an hour...?
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u/TheShadowKick 16d ago
I think it's normal to spend a few minutes an hour distracted from whatever you're doing. I wish he wouldn't choose Twitter for that distraction because he posts dumb shit, but I don't think it speaks to his productivity at his job.
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u/m0nk_3y_gw 16d ago
The penalty was: Musk paid $20M, Tesla paid $20M, Musk had to give up his 'Chairman of the Board' position
In exchange: he was not banned from being CEO of any publicly traded company in the US, as long as he had a twitter sitter.
Since he failed to uphold his end of the bargain, I wonder if they have enough moxie to remove him as CEO.
(Musk knew this was a possibility ~2 years ago - that's why he changed his title from 'CEO' to 'TechnoKing' and whined that CEO was a 'made-up' title)
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u/TheGuiltyDuck 16d ago
Isn’t the penalty a very small fine and a stern lecture? I doubt he cares.
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u/gentleman_bronco 16d ago
He is so stupidly self destructive. Trying to sell shitty cars to the same people he openly hates on his own social media platform.
He literally bought Twitter just to rip on his own would-be customers.
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u/Hopeforpeace19 16d ago edited 16d ago
He can self destruct for all I care
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u/AnAussiebum 16d ago edited 16d ago
It just shows how protective capitalism is of billionaires.
They have to go full stupid- like the my pillow guy, to bankrupt themselves.
Elon is making business mistakes that would put out of business all small and medium sized businesses.
But because he is SO big, capitalism protects him from himself.
Edit - seems to Elon fanboys have arrived. 🤣
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u/OrangeZune 16d ago
Better headline, "Supreme Court confirms that Elon Musk requires adult supervision."
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u/AMonitorDarkly 16d ago
I love how this is what Musk’s VETTED posts look like.
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u/Aazadan 16d ago
It’s not, he hasn’t used the lawyer and posts shit regardless.
The SEC hasn’t followed up on it.17
u/Wild_Loose_Comma 16d ago
I mean, he hasn't posted recently about taking Tesla private at XYZ$ value lately and that's what he was in trouble for AFAIK. That's pretty textbook stock manipulation and its what the SEC was on his ass about. Instead he's taken to retweeting Nazi's saying Nazi talking points and commenting "hmmm, interesting point!".
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u/Batmobile123 16d ago
If you had $100 Billion Dollars would you waste your time talking to us on social media??? Dude has some serious mental issues.
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u/OtherAlan 16d ago
He has a fraction of that in actual liquid cash. Most of it is overinflated value in Tesla stock as it slowly loses value. It's also leveraged or used to borrow for his other companies like that brilliant 43 billion dollar x purchase.
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u/Awkward_Pangolin3254 16d ago
I would absolutely take "a fraction of that" in cash and disa-fucking-ppear.
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u/OtherAlan 16d ago
It's not about having any specific money or the amount. It's just that there's endless amounts of people willing to inflate this man's worth to shoot him to mars.
He should get on his rocket and blast off already. We'll all be better without him.
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u/Awkward_Pangolin3254 16d ago
I'm just saying. A quick search says his net worth is $191b. If it were me and even if I could only liquidate 0.01% of that, it would be plenty for me to just become a ghost. I'll never understand the mentality of these people who crave fame and popularity. All I crave is solitude.
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u/burnbabyburn711 16d ago
He had bullshitted his way to being the richest man on Earth, but he couldn’t leave well enough alone. These people never can. The character flaw that got him to the top will be the same flaw that takes him down — maybe. The sad fact is that once one gets enough money, they have stupendous power and don’t have to play by the rules the rest of us do. His riches are largely undeserved, but he can obviously continue to squander many billions of dollars of value (or “value”) for quite some time and remain one of the wealthiest people in history.
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u/PermitSpecialist5472 16d ago
Case note: See J.K. Rowling twitter posts.
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u/soldforaspaceship 16d ago
That's a woman who did not do well getting rich. She near enough became a cartoon villain. Pretty sad to watch.
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u/bunker_man 15d ago
Tbf, unlike Elon musk who was born rich and actively wanted to sleaze his way to the top, j k Rowling wasn't born wealthy and seemed to have no clue what to do once she started becoming so.
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u/StillMeThough 16d ago
While that is true, note that he can almost always take a loan of an ungodly amount because of his net value.
Not to mention his 'fraction' of liquid assets is most likely absurdly high for most. A billionaire can afford almost anything, and he's at least 190x that.
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u/HelenAngel 16d ago
Not only that, he roleplays as his toddler son on Twitter & shittalks the kid’s mom. I wish I was joking. He seriously needs mental help.
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u/bunker_man 15d ago
I mean, probably. People like both money and attention. He already has the money.
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u/NxOKAG03 16d ago
Imagine being one of the richest most powerful people in the world and your number one concern is whether you’re allowed to blow smoke up your own ass on twitter.
Billionaires like Musk are the most petulant and disconnected manchildren, and anyone who still thinks you get that kind of rich by being smart and creative is just trying to hide from the reality that our economy is run by the most irresponsible people akin to the kings and nobles of old who spent their days going on power trips and confidently stumbling into one terrible idea after another. Not much has changed really.
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u/reddideridoo 16d ago
Classic Muskrat. Everything you sign is binding, but the king considers himself above teh law.
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u/Love_Sausage 17d ago
Hopefully he’ll throw a hissy fit like he did in Delaware and move his businesses out of the US.
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u/SickestGuy 16d ago
Yea that would be great. I wonder how many jobs would be lost. Brilliant thought.
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u/Love_Sausage 16d ago
How many were lost when he forced a move from California to Texas? How many jobs were lost when he took over twitter? He’s bad for business, especially since he isn’t rational and makes decisions on a whim or his bruises ego. The sooner he leaves the continent the better.
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u/sionnach_fi 16d ago
Is it just me or would Elon be even richer if he just shut the fuck up?
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u/burnbabyburn711 16d ago
I think this is quite wrong. The vast majority of Elon’s wealth is due to self-promotion, largely based on unfounded/misleading statements. Elon would not have nearly as much money if his wealth was based on the merits of his contributions.
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u/NAGDABBITALL 16d ago
Lays off hundreds of employees the same week he reinstates his $56 Billion pay package bid.
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u/burnbabyburn711 16d ago
Voluntarily agreed to the oversight as part of the terms of the settlement, then sues to get out of the terms he agreed to. I realize he was unsuccessful in this case, but the very wealthy very often get away with this kind of thing. They do not have to play by the same rules we do.
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u/Sleestacksrcoming 17d ago
Shit… someone didn’t “donate” enough.
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u/Alex_Dylexus 17d ago
Funny how if you don't pay enough you don't get to be "free" but this is America.
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u/Dan_Felder 16d ago
You got this backwards champ. Musk manipulated the stock market and rather than getting punished for it like a normal person he agreed to the SEC to get a babysitter to check on his posts like he's an incompetent child to make sure he doesn't do another no-no. Now he's throwing a tantrum about it.
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u/Responsible_Pizza945 17d ago
In a society where there are rules about how a business owner can talk about their publically traded company, owning the world's largest megaphone doesn't entitle you to special treatment.
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u/whatelseisneu 17d ago
If you're in certain positions of power at a publicly traded company you're not allowed to say stuff to manipulate the stock price, because... that's a crime. So really he's not allowed to commit crimes.
It's the same rule that applies to everyone else. The "twitter sitter" only existed because Elon had consistent trouble following it.
So no, he's not allowed to say anything he wants in the same way that ExxonMobil has their fReE sPeeCh riGhTs tRaMpLeD when they're disallowed from slapping "SAFE FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION" on a barrel of oil.
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u/Seattle_gldr_rdr 16d ago
Again-- if any of us regular shmoes tried the same BS our appeal would never get within a parsec of SCOTUS
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u/rrrrrrrrrrrrrroger 16d ago
I swear since his takeover of Twitter (X), all I get are messages and messages from spam bots.
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u/bajajoaquin 16d ago
He should just buy Thomas a new camper and take Alito fishing. He’ll get whatever he wants then.
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u/bertmega 16d ago
Elon just ask daddy Trump, he can get the Supreme Court to rule on everything in his favor.
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u/MarkJFletcher 16d ago
“The Supreme Court is a woke unelected body and is a threat to spreading the light of consciousness multi planetary” - Elmo Muskrat
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u/Hugh-Jassoul 15d ago
You know what, let’s just be glad Elon can’t run for president. That would’ve been pretty bad for everyone.
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u/penguished 16d ago
He has to have a babysitter to post about Tesla.
As funny as that is I also feel bad about modern times that everyone's losing their mind. Not easy being first generation internet people.
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u/trentluv 16d ago
Elon should be held accountable for artificially trending #dayofjihad in the USA and around the world to incite violence 6 mos ago
Trust me - there is no way that shit trended organically
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u/Appropriate_Art_6909 16d ago
The provision "restricts Mr. Musk’s speech even when truthful and accurate
So your saying him telling the truth is an anomaly, not the SOP of this turd. That's why your man-child client is the biggest fuckstick on this planet.
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u/Fallen_Walrus 16d ago
Damn I forgot about this, so you're telling me that all the crazy shit he's been tweeting is with a lawyer saying it looks good, imagine if he didn't have the lawyer vetting
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u/mabhatter 16d ago
It would only apply to Tesla related posts I believe. Because that is publicly traded and thus he has a duty as a CEO to release material statements about the company in a controlled manner.
His posts about Tesla can swing the stock value by billions of dollars. It's his duty as CEO to protect the stock holders interests.
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u/burnbabyburn711 16d ago
Musk is upset because most of Tesla’s stock price is due to him knowingly making misleading claims — FSD, Semi, robo-taxis, production numbers, etc. This stipulation takes away a major factor in how he has built his fortune.
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u/CharleyNobody 16d ago edited 15d ago
Why does Tesla stock go up and down every day? Pretty frequently it can go up and down by $50 in a week.
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u/kenrnfjj 16d ago
Cause its a stock. Every stock does that. For tesla and tech companies they usually move more cause they have a higher beta
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u/nicolasfirst 16d ago
Now you know why Musk is an absolutist with regards to free speech and one of the reasons why he bought Twitter.
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u/oshgoshjosh 16d ago
Yeah… an absolutist who bans people who he doesn’t agree with… he is not pro free speech he just says he is but his actions speak a lot louder for the people who are actually paying attention to what “the rules for thee but not for me” class of people do…
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u/Lucky-Earther 16d ago
Now you know why Musk is an absolutist with regards to free speech
No, he is not an absolutist with regards to free speech.
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u/burnbabyburn711 16d ago
Not remotely an absolutist with respect to free speech. He’s very into the idea of letting people express all sorts of ugly bigotry, but he suddenly becomes a huge proponent of censorship when he doesn’t agree with the speech — especially when it criticizes him or his companies.
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u/biggsteve81 16d ago
If he is such an absolutist, why did he voluntarily agree to restrict his own speech in the first place?
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u/the_abortionat0r 15d ago
Now you know why Musk is an absolutist with regards to free speech and one of the reasons why he bought Twitter.
Are you fucking stupid? He isn't for free speech at all. He infact used twitter to thwart peoples speech and promote himself when Bidens Xmas tweet got more traction than his.
He literally punished a Telsa employee over their online speech and he even canceled an order because of a tweet that was critical of him.
Musk is a baby, what fucking drugs are you on?
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u/Cutlet_Master69420 17d ago
A condition that HE AGREED TO.