Musk, Twitter meet Chris Murphy

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), one of the most respected foreign policy voices on the Hill, is calling for federal agencies – specifically the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States – to investigate Twitter’s new ownership structure.

Twitter, of course, was recently purchased by mega-billionaire Elon Musk. But among his investors are members of the Saudi royal family and the Qataris.

Murphy has the ear of the Biden administration on foreign policy and national security matters, and here’s what he said about the acquisition in a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.

??Setting aside the vast stores of data that Twitter has collected on American citizens, any potential that Twitter’s foreign ownership will result in increased censorship, misinformation, or political violence is a grave national security concern.

Saudi Arabia is one of the most repressive countries in the world, with little to no tolerance for free expression. Importantly, the Saudi government has demonstrated a willingness to enforce their restrictive approach to dissent outside the Kingdom’s borders—illustrated most tragically by the murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi. …

In addition, federal and state government officials rely on Twitter to be a reliable medium to communicate vital information to the public. The possibility that a foreign power may now be able to influence the ability of the White House or a Governor to communicate with constituents must be thoroughly examined.

To be sure, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia, a prominent investor, has long held a stake in Twitter. The only difference now is that Twitter is privately controlled, not subject to the disclosure requirements that a publicly traded company is held to.

This is a bit of a twist on the battlelines we anticipated for the next Congress. Instead of conservatives going after Twitter for allegedly censoring voices on the right, the broadsides against the tech platform could be from national-security minded lawmakers who are concerned about foreign nations having undue influence over public debates and elections.

Congress can be – and may end up being – a huge irritant for Musk and Twitter. The world’s richest man could be called before lawmakers during the next two years, forced to answer about his plans for Twitter, which plays an outsized role in the public political debate in America.

Of course, Big Tech will be under a heavy barrage in the next Congress if Republicans take control of either the House or Senate.

– Jake Sherman