The US Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday issued a summary order affirming a lower court's ruling that billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk must abide by an agreement made with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which requires a Tesla attorney to review his activity on Twitter
WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 15th May, 2023) The US Second Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday issued a summary order affirming a lower court's ruling that billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk must abide by an agreement made with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which requires a Tesla attorney to review his activity on Twitter.
Musk challenged a ruling by the US District Court for the Southern District of New York upholding the terms of the SEC settlement deal. The agreement was reached after Musk tweeted in 2018 about securing funding to take Tesla private, causing its shares to jump in value; Tesla remains a publicly traded company.
Musk contended that the consent decree with the SEC warrants modification due to changed circumstances and potential First Amendment violations.
"Musk argues that the SEC's methods of enforcing the consent decree constitute changed circumstances that have made compliance with it substantially more onerous. We disagree," the Second Circuit Court of Appeals said in the order.
The court also found no evidence to support Musk's claims that the SEC used the agreement to conduct "bad-faith, harassing investigations" of his protected speech, the order said, adding that the SEC has opened just three inquiries into Musk's tweets since 2018.
Parties entering into consent decrees may voluntarily waive their First Amendment and other constitutional rights, the order said. Musk could have litigated or negotiated a different agreement had we wished to preserve his rights, but cannot re-open a final judgment "merely because he has now changed his mind," the order said.
However, the court expresses no view as to the substance of Musk's underlying First Amendment claims, the order added.
