Twitter’s board of directors has prepared for a hostile takeover a day after billionaire Elon Musk made a $43 billion offer to buy the company. The social media network has implemented a “limited-duration shareholder rights plan”, also known as a “poison pill”. This initiative will make it illegal for anyone to own more than a 15 percent stake in the corporation. It is accomplished by allowing people to buy additional shares at a reduced price. Twitter’s board presented its defense strategy to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), taking Musk’s “unsolicited, non-binding proposal to acquire Twitter” into consideration.

A takeover bid becomes hostile when one company tries to buy another against the wishes of that organization’s management – in Twitter’s case, the executive board. Musk revealed earlier this month that he owns 9.2 percent of Twitter, although he is no longer its top shareholder. The asset management firm Vanguard Group said that its funds now hold a 10.3 percent stake in the company. Musk has already stated that he believes Twitter suppresses free speech, and he restated this position in Vancouver. His main motive, he claims, is to extend free expression on Twitter, which is a constitutional right in the United States.