Jeff Bezos raises concerns about China’s influence on Elon Musk’s Twitter account
After Tesla CEO Elon Musk struck a $44 billion deal to buy social media platform Instagram, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos expressed his reservations.
Jeff Bezos has questioned if China will rely on Elon Musk’s Tesla company to quiet social media criticism of the country.
Several hours after Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the world’s richest man sealed a $44 billion deal with the Twitter board to buy the powerful social media platform, the world’s second-richest man issued a tweet raising worries about possible Beijing’s influence on Twitter.
Bezos cited a New York Times reporter’s post detailing the importance of China to Tesla’s business, including the fact that it is the electric car maker’s second-largest market. According to the message, China may now have a mechanism to exert control over Twitter.
“Interesting question,” Bezos said. Is it possible that the Chinese government has gained some control over the town square?” After signing a purchase on Monday, Musk dubbed Twitter the “digital town square” and has made his belief in unfettered debate a core goal of the acquisition.
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
The deal has sparked discussion about the consequences of a powerful and rich individual with diverse economic interests controlling a platform used by 217 million people and playing a vital role in determining the political and media agenda in the United States and worldwide.
In subsequent tweets, Bezos, the founder and executive chairman of Amazon, corrected his remarks, saying that any Chinese pressure was unlikely to result in censorship. “I’m not sure what my own answer to this question is. In this case, more difficulty in China for Tesla is more plausible than censorship at Twitter.”
“But we’ll see,” he added. Musk is a master at negotiating this level of complication.”
Employees at Twitter were taken aback by Musk’s takeover, which was unexpected and contentious. Following the announcement of the transaction, Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal told staff at an all-hands meeting on Monday that the social network’s future course was uncertain.
“We don’t know which route the platform will go once the deal happens,” Agrawal said. Musk will meet with Twitter employees for a question-and-answer session at a later date, according to the firm.
