US judge rejects gag order on Elon Musk over 2018 tweets

A federal judge ruled Wednesday he will not impose a “gag order” on Elon Musk stopping him to talk about a lawsuit regarding his tweets on taking Tesla Inc (NYSE: TSLA) private.

U.S. District Judge Edward Chen in San Francisco said he found no proof that letting Musk talk publicly posed a "clear and present danger" or "serious and imminent threat" to a trial scheduled January 2023.

Tesla shareholders had sued Musk for tweeting in 2018 that he had "funding secured" to potentially take the electric-vehicle company private. Shareholders incurred losses after Musk’s tweet due to volatility in Tesla's shares.

Musk stepped down as Tesla’s chairman then and also paid $20 million civil fines.