Tesla investor Ross Gerber mocked Elon Musk after the tech billionaire's social media platform, X, formerly Twitter, lost a lawsuit filed against a nonprofit organization, Center for Countering Digital Hate, or CCDH.
What Happened: Gerber, who has often been critical of Musk, mocked the Tesla CEO and X owner for his attempt to "silence free speech."
This is after X had its lawsuit against CCDH thrown out, with U.S. District Judge Charles Breyer remarking that this case is about "punishing the defendants for their speech."
Gerber's mockery of Musk was on similar lines, with an additional jibe about Musk being a self-proclaimed "free speech absolutist."
"Free speech absolutist loses case to silence free speech."
Musk had previously refused to block Russian news sources on SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service unless threatened at gunpoint.
Subscribe to the Benzinga Tech Trends newsletter to get all the latest tech developments delivered to your inbox.
X's lawsuit against CCDH accused the nonprofit of making false claims, discouraging advertisers on the platform and harming free speech. The Musk-owned social media platform claimed CCDH's actions could affect over half a billion users.
Musk has been vocal about his dislike for CCDH in the past, calling it a "truly evil organization."
Why It Matters: On his part, Gerber has been openly critical of Musk, blaming his "unfinished projects" for the plunge in Tesla Inc. stock, which is down by over 28% since the beginning of 2024.
Among these projects is the full self-driving (FSD) technology, which Gerber thinks is crucial to complete to boost the stock.
He also thinks either Tesla needs a "real CEO" or Musk needs to come back to work.
"This could turn around very quickly if either Tesla gets a real CEO who's actually going to help the company, or Elon changes his tune and actually comes back to working at Tesla and promoting the brand in a positive way."
Check out more of Benzinga's Consumer Tech coverage by following this link.
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
Trade confidently with insights and alerts from analyst ratings, free reports and breaking news that affects the stocks you care about.
