Elon Musk did not suspend Bill Gates from Twitter
- This article is more than one year old.
- Published on April 29, 2022 at 20:44
- 1 min read
- By Claire SAVAGE, AFP USA
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"Damn Elon moves quick," says text above an image of Gates' apparently suspended profile in an April 27, 2022 Facebook post.
Another example of the claim appeared on Facebook here.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Musk reached a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter on April 25, but as the world's richest man sold Tesla shares to finance the purchase, the automotive company's stocks plummeted, sparking speculation that this might deter him from following through on his offer.
The self-described "free speech absolutist" has vowed to reform what he sees as over-zealous policing of tweets.
The billionaires have previously found themselves at odds -- Musk accused Gates of betting against Tesla in the stock market, and Gates criticized Musk's comments about the pandemic.
But Twitter said it has not taken enforcement action on the @BillGates account, and searching the social media site shows that his profile is still active as of April 29.
Microsoft co-founder Gates has long been a target of conspiracy theories and misinformation, and AFP Fact Check has debunked other inaccurate claims about him here.
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