WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday rejected tech billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s attempt to challenge the terms of a settlement he reached with the Securities and Exchange Commission that required a lawyer to review some of his posts. on the social networks.
The justices rejected Musk’s appeal of a ruling by the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of the government agency.
Musk complained that the SEC illegally imposed conditions on his ability to comment online on Tesla-related issues, dubbed the “Twitter sitter” clause.
He has long been an impulsive user of Twitter, now renamed as X. Musk acquired the social media company in 2022.
The SEC cracked down on Musk after he posted tweets in 2018 saying he had secured funding to take Tesla private, which came as a shock to the market and initially sent the company’s shares soaring. The agency said the tweets were “materially false and misleading,” violating securities law.
Musk has agreed to settle a civil securities lawsuit filed by the SEC. As part of that agreement, he signed the social media clause.
In a separate civil case, a jury concluded last year that Musk was is not responsible to deceive investors.
Now, Musk is saying the limits on his speech are unconstitutional and says he was effectively coerced into agreeing to them. His lawyers claim in court documents that the SEC has waged an “ongoing campaign” against Musk.
The provision “restricts Mr. Musk’s speech, even when truthful and accurate. It extends to speech not covered by securities laws and unrelated to the conduct underlying the SEC’s civil action against Mr. Musk,” the lawyers added.
The SEC responded in court documents that Musk waived his right to present his case when he signed the agreement.
Lower courts agreed to reject Musk’s claim.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
