The US financial regulator has asked a judge to hold Tesla’s billionaire boss, Elon Musk, in contempt of court for tweeting misleading information in breach of a deal that saw him fined $20m (£15.2m) for inaccurate tweets last year.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Musk had “once again published inaccurate and material information about Tesla to his over 24 million Twitter followers”, according to court papers filed on Monday night.

On 19 February Musk tweeted that about Tesla’s rapid growth. He said the carmaker had made “0 cars in 2011, but will make around 500k in 2019”. Hours later he tweeted again to correct the figure. “Meant to say annualized production rate at end of 2019 probably around 500k, ie 10k cars/week. Deliveries for year still estimated to be about 400k,” he tweeted.

The SEC said Musk had “did not seek or receive pre-approval prior to publishing this tweet, which was inaccurate and disseminated to over 24 million people”. Under the terms of a deal agreed with the regulator in October, all of Musk’s public communication – including tweets – must be approved by Tesla’s lawyers in advance.

Tesla conceded that Musk did not receive pre-approval for the tweets, but said that he did not need to as the statements were based on information the company made public weeks earlier in an earnings call with analysts. The company said its lawyer monitors Musk’s Twitter account and saw the 19 February tweet, and met with Musk at the Tesla factory to draft a tweet to clarify the original one.

Musk tweeted on Monday night that the SEC “forgot to read Tesla earnings transcript, which clearly states 350k to 500k. How embarrassing …”

The case is likely to lead to a court hearing, in which a judge will consider whether Musk’s tweets breach the terms of the earlier settlement, and if it did what punishment should be meted out. The SEC declined to comment on what sort of additional punishment Musk might face.

The SEC first took action against Musk for tweets in August 2018, in which he surprised investors by saying he was thinking about taking Tesla private, and had secured funding which would value the company at $420 a share. Tesla’s shares soared immediately on the news, but it turned out that the flotation plans were at a much earlier stage than Musk’s tweets had suggested. Musk denied wrongdoing, but agreed to stand down as Tesla’s chairman. Both Musk and Tesla were fined $20m.

Since agreeing the settlement, Musk has repeatedly mocked the SEC. In a tweet in October he called the agency the “Shortseller Enrichment Commission”. In December he told CBS that no one at the company was approving his tweets despite the settlement, and said:“I want to be clear, I do not respect the SEC. I do not respect them.”

On Tuesday he criticised the SEC for pursuing him, responding to a commentator who said it was the regulator’s announcement that had moved the market, not him.