A federal appeals court has rejected Elon Musk’s plea to dismiss or amend the 2018 fraud settlement he reached with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The settlement, which established a consent decree mandating that Musk’s tweets be vetted by a lawyer before posting, will remain in effect.
The decision raises questions about Musk’s compliance with the order, given the sheer frequency and volume of his tweets, especially considering his recent acquisition of Twitter. Nevertheless, the court dismissed Musk’s contention that the SEC was exploiting the consent decree to engage in “bad-faith, harassing investigations” of his protected speech, deeming his argument devoid of merit….