President and CEO of the National Urban League, Marc Morial.
Getty Images
Twitter’s board of directors should consider turning down Elon Musk’s bid for the social media company because his ownership could impact users’ civil rights, said Marc Morial, president of the National Urban League.
In a letter Monday to Twitter chairman Bret Taylor, Morial said Musk had expressed “worrying views” regarding content moderation and free speech that run counter to the principles of “creating an online community that… is safe for marginalized communities and protects our democracy”.
Morial urged Twitter’s board of directors to consult with the civil rights community before making a decision on Musk’s offer, and he requested a meeting with Taylor to discuss his concerns further.
“Without important safeguards and safeguards, much of the worrying activity we see on Twitter, including white supremacist propaganda, racial and religious hatred, voter suppression through electoral disinformation, algorithmic bias and discrimination, and the hardening of our national discourse are likely to occur owned by Musk,” Morial wrote. “The potential for millions to directly and indirectly negatively impact our nation’s culture and democracy is exponential and should be part of your analysis when considering this – or any – purchase offer.”
Last week, Musk offered to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share, or about $43 billion. On Friday, Twitter passed a limited-duration shareholder rights plan, often referred to as a “poison pill,” to stave off a potential hostile takeover.
Musk, who is the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has amassed a more than 9% stake in Twitter over the past few weeks. Shortly after his stock ownership became public, the Twitter CEO announced plans for Musk to join the board, but on the condition that Musk couldn’t buy more than 14.9% of the company. Musk then reversed course and instead offered to take Twitter private.
“I invested in Twitter because I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the world, and I believe that free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” Musk wrote in a letter to Taylor , which was published in a securities filing. “However, since making my investment, I have come to realize that the company will not thrive in its current form, nor will it serve this societal imperative. Twitter needs to be turned into a private company.”
Musk, who is known for attacking journalists and other critics of him and his company, has an unclear definition of free speech.
“A good sign of freedom of speech is: Can someone you don’t like say something you don’t like?” And if that’s the case, then we have freedom of speech,” Musk said Thursday at the TED2022 conference in Vancouver.
Musk has described himself as a “free speech absolutist” and said he thinks Twitter’s algorithm should be public so users have more control over the tweets they see in their news feed. He acknowledged that there should be some moderation of content e.g. B. when explicit calls for violence, and said: “Twitter should comply with the laws of the country.”
Neither Twitter nor Musk immediately responded to a request for comment.
WATCH: Elon Musk May Likely Flip Twitter, Says a Private Equity Firm