Twitter's stock collapse... Elon Musk's deals are under US censorship, so what is the relationship with Putin?
The shares of the social networking site Twitter fell by 16% before the start of trading on the New York Stock Exchange today, Friday.
Amid reports of consultations within the administration of US President Joe Biden about subjecting some of the business of billionaire Elon Musk to a review related to US national security, including the acquisition of Twitter and the Starlink system for satellite Internet services owned by Musk's SpaceX.
And Bloomberg News quoted informed sources as saying that US officials are concerned about Musk’s recent threats to stop providing Internet services through the Starlink system to Ukraine, which he says have cost him eighty million dollars so far, in addition to what they described as his increasingly inclined position towards Russia, which He appeared in a series of tweets on Twitter, in which he outlined proposals for peace in Ukraine in favor of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
US officials are also concerned about Musk's plans to buy Twitter in conjunction with a group of foreign investors.
The sources indicated that these consultations are still in their early stages, and that officials in the US administration and intelligence departments are studying the tools available to them, which allow the federal government to review Musk's work.
The sources stated that among the possibilities raised is the reliance on the law that governs the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States in order to review Musk's deals and works to ascertain whether they involve any threats to US national security. This committee reviews the acquisitions of US companies by foreign parties.
Twitter allows editing of tweets on its platform for the rich before the poor
However, the sources indicated that it is not clear whether the committee's terms of reference will guarantee the US government a legal means to review Musk's activities.
In a related context, there were reports that Musk intends to reduce the workforce in Twitter as part of its acquisition deal. The Washington Post reported on Thursday that Musk's plans include reducing the company's workforce by 75% within months.
Bloomberg reported that investors likely to participate in the deal have been informed about the planned job cuts, as part of an effort to double Twitter's revenue in three years.
