Tesla CEO and world’s richest person expressed concerns about presence of fake accounts on the social media platform, “Twitter”. Elon Musk has cast further doubt over his $44bn takeover of Twitter after stating the “deal cannot move forward” until the social media company proves that fewer than 5% of its users are fake or spam accounts.
The Tesla chief executive used his Twitter account to say that the agreed deal will not progress until the firm shows proof that only a small proportion of its users are fake.
Musk’s latest tweet will add to speculation that he is set to walk away from the deal, which could trigger a $1bn break fee payable to Twitter, or attempt to strike a new takeover agreement at a price lower than the agreed $54.20 a share. Twitter shares, which have been affected by speculation that the deal might founder, are trading at $37.39.
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Fake or spam accounts, known as “bot” accounts, are automated and not run by human users. They may use the reply function or direct messages to send adverts or scams to other users, or they may represent attempts to influence the public discourse by tweeting political propaganda.
Other fake accounts exist purely to boost the metrics of individual users, who can buy followers, likes and retweets from “bot sellers” who control thousands or millions of fake accounts. Because they also inflate Twitter’s daily user numbers which stand at 229 million currently – they also pose a threat to the company’s advertising revenue, which accounts for 90% of its income. However, Twitter has consistently made clear in its quarterly statements since 2014 that it estimates its spam account problem to represent less than 5% of its users.
Agrawal replied to Musk’s concerns publicly on Monday with a lengthy thread in which he explained the company’s methodology. Agrawal explained that tackling automated spam accounts was a “dynamic” process that required fighting “sophisticated and hard to catch” actors. He added that some accounts that have the characteristics of spam accounts are in fact operated by real people.
“The hard challenge is that many accounts which look fake superficially are actually real people. And some of the spam accounts which are actually the most dangerous – and cause the most harm to our users – can look totally legitimate on the surface,” he wrote. He added that estimating Twitter’s fake account numbers could not be done externally because the process required access to sensitive data such as IP addresses and phone numbers.
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On Monday, Musk suggested that he could seek to pay a lower price for Twitter because of the fake accounts issue. Speaking virtually at a conference in Miami, he said reducing his agreed $54.20 a share offer wouldn’t be “out of the question”. However, the terms of Musk’s takeover agreement with Twitter given him limited room for maneuver, legal experts have said.
Source: The Guardian
