Musk’s Twitter deal clears FTC review, company says

Elon Musk’s bid to buy Twitter for $44 billion has cleared a regulatory step with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Twitter said Friday. 

The waiting period under the HSR Act, or the Hart-Scott-Rodino Improvements Act, for the bid expired late Thursday night. The HSR Act requires parties to report large mergers and acquisitions to the FTC and the Department of Justice’s antitrust division for review. 

Musk’s deal to take over the social media platform is still subject to remaining customary closing conditions, including approval by Twitter stockholders and receipt of remaining applicable regulatory approvals, Twitter said. 

In April, Musk announced a bid to buy the company. Later that month Twitter and Musk reached a deal to sell Twitter to Musk for about $44 billion. 

The Tesla CEO has signaled that under his ownership, the company would make changes to its content moderation practices in ways that he said would aim to protect free speech. 

He has also signaled that he would make the Twitter algorithm open source, add new features and authenticate all human users on the platform. 

Republicans have broadly embraced Musk’s bid to buy the company and his plans to advance a more “free speech” approach. 

But some Democrats and progressive groups say the deal raises concerns. Progressive tech advocacy and civil rights groups that already criticize Twitter for not taking enough of a stance against hate speech and disinformation say they are concerned any changes could lead to more of that content spreading on Twitter.