MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell spoke on her show with a panel of guests including NBC’s Ben Collins about the implications of Twitter’s new leadership.
MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell and NBC News’ Ben Collins suggested that Twitter under Elon Musk can be used by nefarious actors both foreign and domestic to interfere with the course of American politics.
The panel on “Andrea Mitchel Reports” discussed disinformation about the attack on Nancy Pelosi’s husband spreading on Twitter, then the topic turned to foreign interference in elections.
“And let me just add one other thing because there’s election foreign interference also, it’s not just domestic,” Mitchell claimed.
She specified, “We’ve got what Russia has done in the past, what China, what Iran and other adversaries – and going forward it’s been reported, Ben, reliably reported, that a quarter of Musk’s financing for his various enterprises comes from China, and what are the guardrails there? What about that – that kind of influence and conflict of interest?”
Elon Musk taking the reins at Twitter has thrilled free speech advocates and incensed many liberal commentators. (Getty Images/iStock / Getty Images)
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Collins agreed and noted, “Yeah, and Saudi Arabia, as well.”
He worried that “the right thing” would no longer be done on Twitter. He said “the other issue” is Musk “took the company private, so there’s no fiduciary duty to shareholders to do the right thing anymore, to put out quarterly reports about the direction of the company or if he’s doing the right thing.”
MSNBC’s Andrea Mitchell and guests discuss the implications of Elon Musk leading Twitter.
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Collins suggested that Musk is ultimately only “beholden to his own checkbook,” but warned that “if advertisers flee this platform it’s going to be a very expensive hobby for him. But if they stay on the platform then he can, you know, do this basically with impunity and aid whatever foreign government he wants for his own business deals.”
Collins has a history of concern about Musk, and previously suggested that the Tesla CEO will impact America’s midterm election with his management of the platform.
CEO of Tesla Motors Elon Musk speaks at the Tesla Giga Texas manufacturing “Cyber Rodeo” grand opening party in Austin, Texas, on April 7, 2022. (Suzanne Cordeiro/AFP Via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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“For those of you asking: Yes, I do think this site can and will change pretty dramatically if Musk gets full control over it. No, there is no immediate replacement,” he tweeted earlier this month. “If it gets done early enough, based on the people he’s aligned with, yes, it could actually affect midterms.”
