Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) requested a national security investigation by a U.S. federal entity into the circumstances of some of Twitter’s most high-profile financial backing in the wake of billionaire Elon Musk’s takeover of the social media platform.
Musk already fired multiple executives and evidently tasked part of the team with developing plans for requiring payment to keep verification badges. His takeover finalized after months of wrangling, including a court case in which Twitter wanted to force Musk to complete the deal after he talked about backing out. The point of concern for Murphy is the massive financial stake held by Saudi authorities in Twitter. Behind Musk, the country’s authorities now constitute the second-largest investor. Murphy targeted his call for an investigation to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (aka CFIUS), which is an interagency task force which maintains the ability to review major financial transactions even after they close. “Both the White House and the Treasury Department declined to comment in response to the call from Murphy,” CNN reported.
“Today I am requesting the Committee on Foreign Investment — which reviews acquisitions of U.S. businesses by foreign buyers — to conduct an investigation into the national security implications of Saudi Arabia’s purchase of Twitter,” Murphy said. (Although Saudi authorities rolled over their previous investments evidently contributing to the total level of financing Musk used — or at least from which he benefited — amid the deal, the country’s government doesn’t exert control over the platform.)
“We should be concerned that the Saudis, who have a clear interest in repressing political speech and impacting U.S. politics, are now the second-largest owner of a major social media platform. There is a clear national security issue at stake and CFIUS should do a review,” Murphy added Monday. “If this deal goes through, two of the most important U.S. social media platforms will be owned, in whole or in part, by China (TikTok) and Saudi Arabia (Twitter). This is a dangerous trend, and we don’t have to accept it.” Notably, Musk already received scrutiny for potential ties to another authoritarian regime, reportedly communicating with Vladimir Putin before making controversial comments about Ukraine — the alleged circumstances of which Musk disputed.
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, one of the Saudi leaders involved in the country’s Twitter investments, has also been involved in large investments in other major companies, like Apple and Uber. The Saudi prince supported Musk’s takeover of Twitter with rolling over major investments after initially opposing the deal. Forbes notes that questions initially remained about whether “a group of 19 investors would follow through on the $7.1 billion equity commitment they made to the Tesla chief in May–back before tech stocks plummeted.” According to available details, that group included the Saudi leader, who subsequently revealed an affirmative answer on his part.
