Advocacy groups seek to block Elon Musk’s Twitter deal

San Francisco: Nearly a dozen advocacy groups have launched a new campaign against Elon Musk to block his $44 billion takeover deal, as the micro-blogging platform said the waiting period for the deal has expired under the HSR (Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements) Act in the US.

The Stop the Deal campaign is persuading Tesla stockholders to take action against the takeover deal, which has been put on hold by Musk as he wants more information on fake accounts on the platform,

The group with nonprofits like Accountable Tech, Center for Countering Digital Hate, GLAAD and MediaJustice, has also asked Tesla stakeholders to ask advertisers to stop spending on the platform.

Musk “would steamroll basic content moderation safeguards and provide a megaphone to extremists who traffic in white nationalism, hate, disinformation, and harassment, further endangering marginalized communities”, the group said in a statement.

Musk would “reinstate Twitter accounts of public figures who were banned for inciting violence and spreading dangerous disinformation”.

“Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter will not lead to more ‘free speech’ on the platform,” Rahna Epting, executive director of MoveOn, said in a statement.

“It will simply lead to more extreme voices exploiting the platform to stoke hate, violence and harassment. Social media platforms that are nothing more than toxic cesspools of disinformation are harmful to our society and our politics.”

Meanwhile, Twitter said late on Friday that the completion of the deal is now “subject to remaining customary closing conditions, including approval by Twitter stockholders and the receipt of applicable regulatory approvals”.