Qatar’s Repressive Regime to back Musk’s Twitter Deal

A filing by Musk to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) today showed Qatar Holding LLC has invested $375,000,000 in Twitter. Qatar Holding LLC is owned by Qatar’s sovereign wealth fund the Qatar Investment Authority.

Elon Musk announced more than $7 billion in new financing for his Twitter bid on Thursday, including a $375 million commitment from a subsidiary of the sovereign wealth fund of Qatar, a country that has allegedly not always upheld Musk’s much-espoused value of “free speech.”

Qatar’s government has been criticized for the country’s labor conditions, lack of LGBT rights, and concerns about press freedoms.

According to Amnesty International, as of last year Qatari “authorities continued to curtail freedom of expression using abusive laws to stifle critical voices.” The organization highlighted the case of Malcolm Bidali, a Kenyan “blogger and migrant workers’ rights activist” who was allegedly “forcibly disappeared” and kept in solitary confinement for speaking out against worker abuses. Bidali eventually paid a $6,800 fine and left the country.

What will happen to Twitter if the news of Qataris demanding the condition of transferring the regional headquarters of Twitter to Doha in exchange for this funding is true?