Joe Rogan told Elon Musk to ‘liberate Twitter’, huge trove of private text messages show

The messages were released as a part of the ongoing documentation ahead of Elon Musk’s trial against Twitter

Musk Twitter Deposition (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Joe Rogan told Elon Musk that he should “liberate Twitter from the censorship happy mob” when he owns Twitter, new texts reveal.

Several messages between Elon Musk and key figures at Twitter – including founder Jack Dorsey, board chair Bret Taylor and current head Parag Agrawal – as well as other high-profile individuals like Mr Rogan, were released as a part of the ongoing documentation ahead of Elon Musk’s trial against Twitter.

“I will provide advice, which they may or may not choose to follow,” Mr Musk told Mr Rogan in response.

Mathias Döpfner, the chief executive of Axel Springer which owns Bild, Politico, and Business Insider, also suggested buying Twitter in a joint bid with Mr Musk.

“Game plan”, the message says: “Solve Free Speech … make it censorship-free … Make Twitter censorship-resistant”, and then create a “marketplace for algorithms” so that “if you’re a snowflake and don’t want content that offends you pick another algorithm”.

Mr Musk also messaged one or more unknown individuals about ”letting right wingers back on Twitter” including, it seems, former president Donald Trump who was banned from the platform in January 2021 because of the “risk of further incitement of violence” after the Capitol Hill riots.

“It will be a delicate game of letting right wingers back on Twitter and how to navigate that (especially the boss himself, if you’re up for that)”, the message reads,

“I would also lay out the standards early but have someone who has a savvy cultural/political view to be the VP of actual enforcement. A Blake Masters type.”

It is unclear whether this text was sent by Mr Musk or to him.

Other messages reveal the relationship between Mr Musk and Jack Dorsey, as well as current chief executive Parag Agrawal.

“I have a ton of ideas, but lmk if I’m pushing too hard,” Musk texted Mr Agrawal on 7 April, shortly after Twitter offered him the board seat. “I just want Twitter to be maximum amazing.”

Agrawal invited Mr Musk to “treat me like an engineer” instead of a CEO as they worked through technical questions together. At one point, Mr Musk wrote, “I love our conversations!”

Two days after the blowup about Mr Musk’s “Twitter dying” tweet, on 11 April, Mr Agrawal announced Mr Musk would not be joining the board after all. On 14 April, Twitter revealed in a securities filing that Mr Musk had offered to buy the company outright for about $44 billion. After first trying to thwart the hostile takeover, Twitter ended up agreeing to the deal on 25 April.

Mr Dorsey was enthusiastic about Mr Musk’s involvement, telling him that while the board was “terrible,” Mr Agrawal was an “incredible engineer.”

Twitter and Mr Musk are due in court on 17 October for a trial that will decide whether the world’s richest man will be forced to complete his agreed-to $44 billion acquisition of Twitter.

The documents were first revealed on @chancery_daily, a Twitter account that closely follows the Delaware Chancery Court, where the five-day trial will take place.

Additional reporting by Associated Press