Elon Musk Says ‘Prove It’ To Twitter On Bot Account Analysis Controversy

In the latest volley of tweets in the Elon Musk/Twitter purchase saga, the entrepreneur threw down a challenge today: either Twitter provide its method of sampling 100 accounts and how it confirmed that the accounts are real, or the deal is canceled.

Musk’s $44 billion deal to buy the company should proceed on its original terms if Twitter proves its account numbers are real, he added in his tweeting.

“However, if it turns out that their SEC filings are materially false, then it should not,” Musk tweeted early on Saturday.

Musk’s tweet came In response to a Twitter user asking whether the US Securities and Exchange Commission was probing “dubious claims” by Twitter. Musk tweeted in response, “Good question, why aren’t they?”.

Twitter declined to comment. It has previously denied that its methodology and reports on users hid that more than their stated 5% were bots.

On Thursday, Twitter said in a filing, “According to Musk, he — the billionaire founder of multiple companies, advised by Wall Street bankers and lawyers — was hoodwinked by Twitter into signing a $44 billion merger agreement. That story is as implausible and contrary to fact as it sounds.”

Musk filed a countersuit Twitter on July 29 against the social media company. He is attempting to walk away from the $44 billion purchase.

I hereby challenge @paraga to a public debate about the Twitter bot percentage.

Let him prove to the public that Twitter has <5% fake or spam daily users!

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 6, 2022

Less than 5% of Twitter daily users are fake/spam

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 6, 2022