shares in this article
Elon Musk before multi-billion dollar Twitter takeover
Twitter ban in China
Musk with Tesla heavily dependent on China
Many observers were surprised that the tech billionaire Elon Musk was actually able to push through his takeover plans for Twitter with the management of the Internet group. In addition, the prospect of Twitter being owned by a single person also drew criticism.
China important sales market for Tesla
In particular, it is the fact that Elon Musk is CEO of the electric car pioneer Tesla that made skeptics sit up and take notice. Because China is the second most important sales market for Tesla – the company generates almost a quarter of its total sales in this region. The latest acquisition, meanwhile, does not have an easy time in China. In fact, Twitter is banned in China because the platform is used a great deal by critics of the regime in particular. Instead, Chinese people with an affinity for the internet exchange information about the Twitter alternative Weibo, which has been severely affected by censorship. The fact that Elon Musk, who is dependent on good relations with China, acquired the service, which is banned in China, fueled speculation that China could try to influence the content of the online network.
Is China Influencing Twitter Content?
The speculation was also fueled by Jeff Bezos, who with his space company Blue Origin is in direct competition with SpaceX, a company also managed by Elon Musk. On Twitter, Bezos responded to a tweet from a reporter discussing Musk’s business ties with China and China’s Twitter ban by saying, “Interesting question. Did the Chinese government just get a little leverage in the marketplace?”
Interesting question. Did the Chinese government just gain a bit of leverage over the town square? https://t.co/jTiEnabP6T
– Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) April 25, 2022
Specifically, observers fear that China, given its business relationship with Elon Musk’s Tesla group, could make efforts to have Twitter content critical of China removed. Exactly that would undermine the efforts of Musk himself, who had repeatedly emphasized in the course of his takeover efforts that he wanted to make Twitter a platform on which complete freedom of expression could be lived out.
It is unclear whether and if so how the Chinese government could put pressure on Elon Musk. The Chinese Foreign Ministry has already distributed calming pills and denied any speculation in this direction. A ministry spokesman is quoted by the media as saying that these are just assumptions without any factual basis.
Editorial office finanzen.net
Leverage must be between 2 and 20
No data
More news about Tesla
Image credits: Larry Busacca/Getty Images for The New York Times, Quka / Shutterstock.com