Elon Musk celebrated Wednesday after a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) commissioner called a push by a leftist organization to block his purchase of Twitter “absurd.”
The Open Markets Institute (OMI) warned Tuesday that Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter on Monday is a threat to “American democracy and free speech.” It also claimed the deal is illegal but that the federal government is able to block the buyout.
But Trump-appointed commissioner Brendan Carr rejected calls to block the purchase, calling it “absurd.”
“The FCC has not authority to block Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, and to suggest otherwise is absurd. I would welcome the full FCC making it clear that we will not entertain these types of frivolous arguments,” Carr said in a statement.
“It does not surprise me to see that some interest groups are planning on throwing the kitchen sink at this transaction in an effort to derail it,” Carr told Fox Business. “Of course, the FCC has no authority to block this transaction. And while I am not in a position to speak for the DOJ or the FTC — the other agencies that were identified in that Open Markets Institute release — I am not aware of any basis upon which any federal agency can block it.”
“These efforts look like a move motivated by a desire to prevent the free exchange of political views on Twitter,” Carr also told Fox Business.
Musk celebrated Carr’s statement, tweeting, “FTC FTW!”
FCC FTW!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 28, 2022
In the letter Monday, OMI Director Barry Lynn said the deal “poses a number of immediate and direct threats to American democracy and free speech. Open Markets also believes the deal violates existing law, and that the FCC, the DOJ, and FTC have ample authority to block it.”
“The deal would give to a single man — one who already wields immense political and economic power — direct control over one of the world’s most important platforms for public communications and debate,” the OMI statement continued. (RELATED: Musk Wants To Bring ‘Maximum Fun’ To Twitter But Warns Conservatives Might Be A ‘Little Unhappy’ Too)
Lynn claimed “the American people have an absolute right to ensure the full openness and neutrality of all essential public infrastructure.” He cited Article 1, Section 8 of the Constitution, the Telegraph Acts of 1860 and 1866, the Mann-Elkins Act of 1910 and the Communications Act of 1934.
“Mr. Musk already controls one of the most important internet platforms in the world – in the form of the satellite communications system Starlink,” Lynn said. “Since the late 19th Century, the U.S. government has routinely acted to prevent mergers between existing essential platforms.”
“This means that just as we would now expect the U.S. government to block a takeover of Twitter by Google, Facebook, Comcast, or Verizon, the same rules apply to the owners of Starlink.”
Lynn asked the government to both block Musk’s purchase of Twitter but also regulate other social media platforms by laying out “clear bans on any manipulation of communications by essential platforms, and to eliminate all business models that rely on such manipulation.”
