Amazon Founder Jeff Bezos shared a tweet questioning the potential role of China in both Tesla and Twitter in the wake of Musk's Twitter buyout.

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Soon after the Twitter board agreed to Elon Musk’s $44-billion takeover offer, Jeff Bezos posted on social media about Musk’s commitment to allow free speech on the platform.

Pointing at a New York Times reporter’s tweet on Tesla’s business interests in China, Bezos asked if Beijing would “gain a bit of leverage” now on Twitter following Musk’s takeover, given the world’s richest person and Tesla’s good relations with the Asian country.

Also read: A timeline of Elon Musk’s $44 billion Twitter acquisition deal

“Interesting question. Did the Chinese government just gain a bit of leverage over the town square?” Bezos tweeted.

A post by New York Times reporter Mike Forsythe had pointed out that Tesla's second-biggest market in 2021 was China, after the US. China is also a major supplier of Tesla’s EV batteries. In his tweet, Forsythe mentioned that China banned Twitter in 2009, leaving no leverage over the platform, but suggested that it may have changed now.

Also read: Elon Musk's Twitter deal: Here's what CEO Parag Agrawal told anxious employees

Prior to buying out Twitter, Musk had tweeted: “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.”

Bezos tempers tweets

Shortly after tweeting about the issue, Bezos appeared to soften his remarks. He posted another series of tweets saying that he thinks Chinese authorities would “probably not” gain influence over Twitter, and in this regard, the more likely outcome would be complexity in China for Tesla. Exuding confidence in Musk, Bezos said the Tesla CEO was “extremely good at navigating this kind of complexity.”

Interesting question. Did the Chinese government just gain a bit of leverage over the town square? https://t.co/jTiEnabP6T

— Jeff Bezos (@JeffBezos) April 25, 2022

In the past, Bezos and Musk have taken shots at each other and their companies. Musk’s SpaceX and Bezos’ Blue Origin are direct competitors in the aerospace industry.

Also read: Explainer: What's next now that Twitter agreed to Musk bid?

Musk had said the Washington Post, which is owned by Bezos, was "always good for a laugh." The Tesla boss was reacting to the op-ed, titled ‘Elon Musk’s Twitter Investment Could Be Bad News for Free Speech,’ published by the news outlet.

Ouch, I just snorted coffee out of my nose. pic.twitter.com/bDCYhMhdag

— Marc Andreessen (@pmarca) April 5, 2022

World divided on takeover

The world is divided on the news of Musk’s takeover of Twitter. Some, including conservative lawmakers in the US, applauded the prospect of the platform becoming less moderated as Musk promises to promote free speech. Others, however, raised concerns that hate speech may now be less regulated in the name of free speech, Politico reported.

Also read: Economic fears hit global equities and commodities, Twitter lifts Wall St

Musk has stated that he wants to take Twitter private and make its algorithm open-source, fight spambots and make the platform an arena for free speech, if the takeover goes ahead as planned.

(Edited by : Shoma Bhattacharjee)

First Published:Apr 26, 2022 6:41 PM IST