Elon Musk files appeal to end SEC decree over Twitter posts

New York: Elon Musk on Wednesday appealed a judge's refusal to end his 2018 agreement with the US Securities and Exchange Commission requiring a Tesla Inc lawyer to vet some of his posts on Twitter.

According to a court filing, Musk will ask the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan to overturn the April 27 decision by US District Judge Lewis Liman that allowed the agreement to stand.

The agreement arose from an SEC lawsuit claiming that Tesla's chief executive defrauded investors by tweeting on Aug. 7, 2018 that he had "funding secured" to take the electric car company private, when in reality a buyout was not close.


Musk later accepted a SEC consent decree requiring a Tesla lawyer to screen tweets that might contain material information about the company.

In seeking to end the consent decree and quash part of a subsequent subpoena, Musk accused the SEC of undermining his constitutional right to free speech and using the decree to launch "endless, boundless investigations of his speech."

Musk is trying to buy Twitter Inc for $44 billion.