CNN’s Brian Stelter says there’s a ‘fear’ about Elon Musk becoming Twitter’s biggest shareholder
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CNN’s left-wing media correspondent Brian Stelter appeared a bit nervous about tech tycoon Elon Musk becoming Twitter’s largest shareholder.
The Tesla co-founder and CEO shocked the nation on Monday with an SEC filing that showed he had purchased 9.2% stake in Twitter, Inc., controlling nearly 73.5 million shares as individual stocks were priced at $49.81 on Monday morning.
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Musk had been outspoken about Twitter “failing to adhere to free speech principles” which he insisted “fundamentally undermines democracy.” He also asked his 80.3 million Twitter followers if a new social media platform was “needed.”
On Monday’s “Reliable Sources Daily,” Stelter addressed the billionaire’s “surprise” move in a panel discussion with CNN Business writer Clare Duffy asking “whether he’ll continue to buy shares, become a bigger investor, and take action here.”
CNN’s left-wing media guru Brian Stelter.
( Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Vanity Fair)
“Elon has criticized Twitter for not allowing free enough speech. And so I think the big question will be whether he’ll try to, you know, get Twitter to change its content moderation policies. He also suggested that maybe Twitter should make its algorithm open source so that people know how it works. So I think those are some of the changes we could potentially see, but, you know, Elon always also talks a big game,” Duffy said. “He knew what he was doing when he was sending out those tweets. And so, you know, it does suggest that he’s gonna try to shake things up at Twitter.”
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After CNN Business writer Sara O’Brien suggested “everyone wants to follow what the billionaires are doing” in response to Twitter’s soaring stock value, Stelter offered a perhaps gloomy outlook.
“There’s interest in billionaires, there’s celebration of the Musk. There’s also fear, I think, sometimes or wariness of- okay, so here’s the richest man on the planet who just bought a big chunk of one of our most important communications tools,” Stelter said. “He’s also one of the biggest owners of satellites in the world. So he’s incredibly powerful, incredibly, I don’t know, am I allowed to use the word strange when talking about Elon Musk?”
SpaceX founder Elon Musk reacts at a post-launch news conference after the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, carrying the Crew Dragon spacecraft, lifted off on an uncrewed test flight to the International Space Station from the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., March 2, 2019.
(REUTERS/Mike Blake/File Photo)
Musk has yet to make a public statement regarding the purchase of his nearly 10% stake in Twitter.
Twitter has had a long history of censorship, particularly targeting conservatives. The tech giant banned former President Trump following the events of January 6.
During the 2020 presidential election, Twitter famously suppressed the bombshell New York Post report about Hunter Biden’s laptop, which has since been verified by both The New York Times and The Washington Post.
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More recently, Twitter has suspended The Babylon Bee after the conservative satirical website mocked Biden administration official Rachel Levine, a transgender woman, by declaring Levine “Man of the Year” following USA Today including Levine among its “Women of the Year.”
Fox News’ Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.