Jeff Bezos, the founder of Blue Origin, asked whether Musk’s acquisition of Twitter would give China more leverage on the platform. Read more below.
Jeff Bezos took a close look at Elon Musk earlier today when reports of the world’s richest man. Buying Twitter became official. In his tweet, Bezos answered whether Musk’s acquisition of China’s Twitter would give the popular microblogging platform a little more leverage. China has close ties to Tesla, Musk’s electric car maker for the uninitiated. The country will be Tesla’s biggest market in 2021, right after the United States. China is also a major supplier of batteries for Tesla cars.
New York Times reporter Mike Forsythe (@PekingMike) points to the relationship between Twitter and China, with Elon Musk as the link.
Bezos later quoted this on Twitter and asked, “Did the Chinese government just gain influence in the town square?”
Whether Bezos is asking a serious question here or having fun with Musk is a mystery. The Blue Origin founder then answered his question. “My answer to that question is probably no,” he said. Adding that instead of saying censorship on Twitter, the acquisition would likely complicate Tesla in China. Musk has been so vocal that Twitter should be a defender of free speech for the record. Musk previously tweeted that he wanted his critics to stay on Twitter post-acquisition because “it means free speech. However, Forsythe and Bezos aren’t the only billionaire critics on the platform.
As of this writing, “#leavingtwitter” is currently one of the most popular hashtags in India as people continue to criticize the move. However, former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is happy with the deal, backing it with several tweets and citing Musk as the only decision he has confidence in.