Amid the ongoging tussle over a failed acquisition bid for Twitter, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the social media giant risked its third largest market by failing to divulge "risky" litigation against the Indian government.
Elon Musk said that Twitter should follow the local law in India, according to the court documents. Snapshots of the court documents were seen circulating on Twitter, posted by New York Times Tech Reporter Kate Conger.
Amid the ongoging tussle over a failed acquisition bid for Twitter, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said that the social media giant risked its third largest market by failing to divulge "risky" litigation against the Indian government.
Musk also accused the San Francisco-based social media company of "hoodwinking" him into signing the deal, during a countersuit in a Delaware court which was filed under seal last Friday and made public Thursday.
Musk also stated that the microblogging site Twitter should stick to the local law in India, according to the court documents. New York Times Tech Reporter Kate Conger posted the snapshots of the court documents on Twitter.
According to a portion of the legal filings posted by Kate Conger, "In 2021, India's information technology ministry imposed certain rules allowing the government to probe social media posts, demand identifying information, and prosecute companies that refused to comply. While Musk is a proponent of free speech, he believes that moderation on Twitter should "hew close to the laws of countries in which Twitter operates"
To Elon Musk's averments in the court filings, Twitter responded that it "respectfully refers the Court for their complete and accurate contents. Twitter lacks knowledge or information sufficient to form a belief as to the truth of the allegations," and said it "therefore denies them on that basis."
Referring to a petition filed in Karnataka High Court in July, Musk also objected to Twitter's failure to disclose litigation against the Indian government.
"Twitter avers that it has challenged certain blocking orders issued by the Indian government under Section 69A of the Information Technology Act, directing Twitter to remove certain content from its platform, including content from politicians, activists, and journalists, and that Twitter's legal," the company said in its response.
As per media reports, Twitter, through its lawyer at the Karnataka High Court, said that their India business would close if they complied with Indian government orders to block content that competent authorities had deemed illegal.
The High Court had issued notices to the Centre and adjourned the hearing for August 25th.
The trial between Twitter and Elon Musk is scheduled to take place on October 17 after Musk decided to cancel his deal to acquire Twitter over what he says is a misrepresentation of fake accounts on the site.
While condemning him of sabotaging the deal as it no longer served his interests, Twitter has been trying to force Musk to follow through on the deal
Previously in April, Musk reached an acquisition agreement with Twitter at USD 54.20 per share in a transaction valued at approximately USD 44 billion and by the month of May, Musk put the deal on hold to allow his team to review the veracity of Twitter's claim that less than 5 per cent of accounts on the platform are bots or spam.