Qatar’s Repressive Regime Will Help Fund Musk’s Twitter Deal

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.”

Qataris demanding the condition of transferring the regional headquarters of Twitter to Doha in exchange for this funding, since there is no funding for free.

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.

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