New Delhi: Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, accused Twitter of endangering its third-largest market by omitting to reveal “risky” litigation against the Indian government. Twitter and Tesla are now engaged in a legal dispute over a rejected purchase attempt that Twitter now plans to push through.
Musk also asserted that he was “hoodwinked” into signing the agreement to purchase the San Francisco-based social media business in a countersuit filed in a Delaware court on Friday that was filed under seal and made public on Thursday.
In India, Musk reportedly stated that Twitter should abide with local laws, according to court records. Images of the court records were shared on Twitter by Kate Conger, a tech reporter for the New York Times.
“In 2021, India’s information technology ministry imposed certain rules allowing the government to probe social media posts, demand identifying information, and prosecute companies that refused to comply. While Musk is a proponent of free speech, he believes that moderation on Twitter should “hew close to the laws of countries in which Twitter operates” read a portion of the legal filings in Twitter Vs Musk lawsuit, as posted by New York Times tech reporter Kate Conger in a series of tweets.
To Elon Musk’s averments in the court filings, Twitter responded that it “respectfully refers the Court for their complete and accurate contents. Twitter lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of the allegations,” and said it “therefore denies them on that basis.”
Musk also took issue with Twitter’s reluctance to disclose litigation it was involved in with the Indian government, citing a petition that was submitted to the Karnataka High Court in July.
“Twitter avers that it has challenged certain blocking orders issued by the Indian government under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, directing Twitter to remove certain content from its platform, including content from politicians, activists, and journalists, and that Twitter’s legal,” the company said in its response.
Through a lawyer at the Karnataka High Court, Twitter said that its India operations would shut down if they agreed with directives from the Indian government to remove anything that competent authorities had decided to be unlawful.
The High Court had given the Center notifications and continued the hearing until August 25.
Following Musk’s attempt to back out of his agreement to purchase Twitter due to what he claims is a misrepresentation of bogus accounts on the platform, the microblogging website and the world’s richest man will now go to trial on October 17.
Twitter is attempting to pressure Musk into carrying out the agreement while claiming that he sabotaged it since it no longer suited his interests.
Earlier in April, Musk and Twitter agreed to be acquired at a price of USD 54.20 per share, for a total transaction value of over USD 44 billion.
Musk placed the agreement on hold in May so that his team could examine Twitter’s claim that fewer than 5% of accounts on the platform are spam or bots.
