Musk responds to the rejection of his deal.

Following Prince Alwaleed bin Talal’s rejection of Elon Musk’s offer to buy Twitter, the billionaire has questioned the Saudi Kingdom’s position in the microblogging network and its views on freedom of speech.

The internet mogul recently revealed his intention to purchase Twitter, claiming that privatizing the company will allow it to fulfil its full potential.

“Being one of the major & long-term shareholders of Twitter, @Kingdom KHC & I reject this offer,” the prince tweeted from his verified account, referring to his Saudi Arabia-based Kingdom Holding Company.

By sharing a Tweet from 2015, the prince also reminded his audience that his company’s Twitter stake had climbed to 5.2 percent.

“Interesting,” Elon Musk commented to the tweet, a frequent user of the social media platform. Please allow me to ask two questions. What percentage of Twitter does the Kingdom control, both directly and indirectly? “How does the Kingdom feel about journalistic freedom of expression?”

Netizens instantly reacted to Musk’s tweet by recounting incidences that demonstrated Saudi Arabia’s lack of freedom of speech. Abdulrahman al-Sadhan, who was imprisoned for sending satirical tweets and condemned to 20 years in prison by a Saudi court, was mentioned by a group.

Another case from 2019 was when a few former Twitter employees were charged with spying for Saudi Arabia, according to a user.