{"id":1456688,"date":"2022-04-28T11:29:49","date_gmt":"2022-04-28T15:29:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1456688"},"modified":"2022-04-28T11:29:53","modified_gmt":"2022-04-28T15:29:53","slug":"fcc-ftw-commissioner-rips-absurd-claim-govt-can-block-musks-purchase-of-twitter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/fcc-ftw-commissioner-rips-absurd-claim-govt-can-block-musks-purchase-of-twitter\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018FCC FTW\u2019: Commissioner Rips \u2018Absurd\u2019 Claim Gov\u2019t Can Block Musk\u2019s Purchase Of Twitter"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffcc-ftw-commissioner-rips-absurd-claim-govt-can-block-musks-purchase-of-twitter%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1456688&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p>Elon Musk celebrated Wednesday after a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) commissioner called a push by a leftist organization to block his purchase of Twitter \u201cabsurd.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Open Markets Institute (OMI) <a href=\"https:\/\/static1.squarespace.com\/static\/5e449c8c3ef68d752f3e70dc\/t\/6268076a3b1aa57bfcbd0487\/1650984811013\/OMI+Musk+and+Twitter.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">warned<\/a> Tuesday that Musk\u2019s $44 billion purchase of Twitter on Monday is a threat to \u201cAmerican democracy and free speech.\u201d It also claimed the deal is illegal but that the federal government is able to block the buyout.<\/p>\n<p>But Trump-appointed commissioner Brendan Carr rejected calls to block the <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/04\/27\/elon-musk-banned-criticizing-twitter-agreement\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">purchase<\/a>, calling it \u201cabsurd.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe FCC has not authority to block Elon Musk\u2019s 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,\u201d Carr <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fcc.gov\/document\/carr-rejects-call-fcc-block-musks-purchase-twitter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">said<\/a> in a statement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt 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,\u201d Carr told <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/politics\/fcc-commissioner-shoots-down-absurd-claim-that-the-federal-government-can-block-musks-twitter-purchase\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Fox Business<\/a>. \u201cOf 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 \u2014 the other agencies that were identified in that Open Markets Institute release \u2014 I am not aware of any basis upon which any federal agency can block it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese efforts look like a move motivated by a desire to prevent the free exchange of political views on Twitter,\u201d Carr also told Fox Business.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/04\/27\/wapo-elon-musk-needs-employees-run-company\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Musk<\/a> celebrated Carr\u2019s statement, tweeting, \u201cFTC FTW!\u201d<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">FCC FTW!<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/elonmusk\/status\/1519577969282400256?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">April 28, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>In the letter Monday, OMI Director Barry Lynn said the <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/04\/27\/washington-post-tries-to-attack-saagar-enjeti-elon-musk-politico-tweet\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">deal<\/a> \u201cposes 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe deal would give to a single man \u2014 one who already wields immense political and economic power \u2014 direct control over one of the world\u2019s most important platforms for public communications and debate,\u201d the OMI statement continued. <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/04\/28\/elon-musk-maximize-fun-twitter-warns-republicans-may-unhappy-changes\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">(RELATED: Musk Wants To Bring \u2018Maximum Fun\u2019 To Twitter But Warns Conservatives Might Be A \u2018Little Unhappy\u2019 Too)<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Lynn claimed \u201cthe American people have an absolute right to ensure the full openness and neutrality of all essential public infrastructure.\u201d 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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMr. Musk already controls one of the most important internet platforms in the world \u2013 in the form of the satellite communications system Starlink,\u201d Lynn said. \u201cSince the late 19th Century, the U.S. government has routinely acted to prevent mergers between existing essential platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lynn asked the government to both block Musk\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/dailycaller.com\/2022\/04\/27\/twitter-follower-swings-elon-musk-bots\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">purchase of Twitter<\/a> but also regulate other social media platforms by laying out \u201cclear bans on any manipulation of communications by essential platforms, and to eliminate all business models that rely on such manipulation.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Elon Musk celebrated Wednesday after a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) commissioner called a push by a leftist organization to block his purchase of Twitter \u201cabsurd.\u201dThe Open Markets Institute (OMI) warned<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":1480839,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1456688","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1456688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1456688"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1456688\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1480839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1456688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1456688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1456688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}