The summary order by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan was released just days after a three-judge panel heard lawyers’ arguments in the case.
The settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission required that his tweets be approved first by a Tesla attorney. It also called for Musk and Tesla to pay civil fines over the tweets in which Musk said he had “funding secured” to take Tesla private at $420 per share.In its ruling, the 2nd Circuit said it saw “no evidence to support Musk’s contention that the SEC has used the consent decree to conduct bad-faith, harassing investigations of his protected speech.
The appeals court also rejected Musk’s prior restraint argument, saying parties entering consent decrees may voluntarily waive their First Amendment and other rights.