Pressure groups are trying to block 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 microblogging platform said the deal wait time has been extended under HSR (Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements) expired the USA.

The stop-the-deal campaign is persuading Tesla shareholders to crack down on the takeover deal, which Musk has put on hold as he wants more information about fake accounts on the platform.

The group, which includes 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 roll over basic content moderation protections and provide a megaphone to extremists who trade in white nationalism, hate, disinformation and harassment, further putting marginalized communities at risk,” the group said in a statement.

Musk would “reactivate Twitter accounts of public figures who have been suspended for inciting violence and spreading dangerous disinformation.”

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

“It will simply result in more extreme voices using the platform to incite hatred, violence and harassment. Social media platforms, which are nothing more than toxic disinformation pits, are damaging to our society and politics.”

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