A federal appeals court has ruled that Tesla must continue to have its CEO Elon Musk’s tweets approved by a company lawyer, rejecting the billionaire’s argument that the policy violated his First Amendment rights.
The 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Wednesday said that the National Labor Relations Board was within its rights to require Tesla to implement a policy that requires Musk to receive pre-approval from a company lawyer before tweeting about certain topics.
The court said that Musk’s tweets are “directly related to the management of Tesla” and that the company had “legitimate interests” in ensuring that his comments were consistent with its policies. The court also noted that the policy did not completely bar Musk from tweeting about the company and its activities.
The ruling comes amid an ongoing battle between Musk and the NLRB over the company’s labor practices. The board has accused the company of violating labor laws, and Musk has argued that the pre-approval policy was intended to silence him.
