Jeff Bezos Hopes Elon Musk's Deal With Twitter Can Influence China's Policies

JAKARTA - Amazon.com Inc founder Jeff Bezos has asked in a post on Twitter whether Elon Musk's $44 billion cash deal to buy the US-based social media platform will give China "little leverage over the market town square".

Twitter has been blocked in China, where Musk, the world's richest man, has major business interests in the country.

Musk, who calls himself a free speech absolutist and criticizes Twitter's content moderation policies, reached a deal on Monday, April 25 to buy the company.

Political activists hope that Musk's ownership of Twitter will mean less moderation and reinstatement of banned figures on the platform, including former US President Donald Trump, from returning to Twitter.

There are also questions about what the deal will mean for Twitter's China content policies as Musk's Tesla relies heavily on China for vehicle production and sales.

"Did the Chinese government just gain a bit of influence over the town square?" Bezos tweeted late Monday.

"My own answer to this question is probably none. The more likely outcome, in this case, is complexity in China for Tesla, rather than censorship on Twitter," Bezos tweeted later.

Musk said in a tweet on Monday: "I hope my worst critique stays on Twitter, because that's what free speech means."

As reported by Reuters, China's Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, April 26 that there is no basis for speculation that Beijing could try to use leverage over Tesla to influence content on Twitter.

A Tesla spokesman said the company had no comment on Bezos' remarks.