Apr 26 (Archyde.com) – The founder of Amazon.com Inc, Jeff Bezos has wondered in a post on Twitter if Elon Musk’s $44 billion cash deal to buy Twitter gives China “a bit of leverage over the public square.”
Twitter is blocked in China, where Musk, the world’s richest person, has key business interests.
Musk, who calls himself a free speech absolutist and has criticized Twitter’s content moderation policy, reached a deal on Monday to buy the social media platform.
Political activists hope Musk’s ownership of Twitter will lead to less restraint and the reinstatement of banned people, including former US President Donald Trump.
There are also questions about what the deal will mean for Twitter’s content policy in China, as Musk-owned Tesla it relies heavily on China for vehicle production and sales.
“Did the Chinese government just gain a bit of influence over the public square?” Bezos tweeted late on Monday.
“My own answer to this question is probably no. The most likely outcome in this regard is complexity in China for Tesla, rather than censorship on Twitter,” he later tweeted.
Musk said in a tweet on Monday: “I hope even my worst critics stay on Twitter, because that’s what free speech means.”
(Reporting by Miyoung Kim; edited in Spanish by Benjamín Mejías Valencia)