BEIJING: With Twitter agreeing to Elon Musk’s $44 billion offer, speculation is rife about how will this change the social media platform’s Chinese content policy.
Twitter is blocked in China, where Musk, the world’s richest person, has key business interests.
There are questions on what the deal will mean for Twitter’s China content policy as Musk’s Tesla relies heavily on China for production and vehicle sales.
Amazon.com Inc. founder Jeff Bezos has asked in a post on Twitter if Elon Musk’s $44 billion cash deal to buy Twitter gives China “a bit of leverage over the town square.”
“My own answer to this question is probably not. The more likely outcome in this regard is complexity in China for Tesla, rather than censorship at Twitter,” he later tweeted.
Musk said in a tweet on Monday: “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.”
Will Musk change Twitter's Chinese content policy? (AFP File)
Political activists expect that Musk’s ownership of Twitter will mean less moderation and reinstatement of banned individuals including former US President Donald Trump.
BMW and Audi suspend shipments by train to China, Nikkei reports
BMW has suspended shipments of cars by rail from Germany to China. (AFP File)
German carmakers BMW and Volkswagen’s Audi have suspended shipments of cars by rail from Germany to China due to the war in Ukraine, the Nikkei business daily reported.
The suspension comes almost two months after BMW said it had halted the export of cars to Russia and would stop production on the ground there.
“Due to the current geopolitical situation, our train transport on the Silk Road and Trans-Siberian Railway has temporarily been switched to alternative routes or transportation modes to ensure planning and supply security,” the report quoted a BMW spokeswoman as saying.
Audi, BMW and Volkswagen did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Reuters.
In March, Audi said it was adjusting its manufacturing operations at its Hungarian factory, which accounts for a chunk of the country’s exports, because of the war in Ukraine.
(With inputs from Reuters)
