In the latest Twitter-Elon-Musk dispute, the social media company claims that two analytics firms Musk hired to count the bots on the platform found fewer than he expected. Twitter’s lawyers also said that until recently, the CEO’s legal team was withholding the data.
The world‘s richest man has long claimed that he suspended Twitter because Twitter lied about the number of fake accounts/posting bots. Twitter says it’s about 5%; Musk says it’s probably more than 20%.
On May 13, Musk said on Twitter that the Twitter deal was on hold while he investigated Twitter’s 5% claim. A month later, Musk said the acquisition was at “serious risk” on the issue. He hired two analytics firms to investigate. Cyabra estimates the number of fakes/bots at 11%, while CounterAction says bot accounts account for 5.3% of all users. Musk walked away from the deal a few days later.
A lawyer for Twitter said the findings “very well fit the description of Twitter,” adding, “None of these analyses support Mr. Musk’s claims to Twitter parties and to all parties around the world in his July 8 notification letter. the words said”.
The lawyer also said Musk’s legal team has been deliberately withholding the findings. Twitter representatives have been trying to see the information since the lawsuit began, but it wasn’t available until yesterday (Tuesday). “This actually corroborates what Mr. Musk told Twitter and told the world, then certainly those analytical data were not presented in the disclosure of this case.”
CounterAction’s 5.3 percent figure was in line with Twitter’s, and while Cyabra’s 11 percent was lower than Musk’s belief that more than a fifth of Twitter accounts were fake, it was still more than double what the company claimed.
The five-day trial in the Twitter/Musk takeover dispute begins Oct. 17. The company hopes to complete the acquisition for the original $44 billion price, while Musk wants to walk away without paying a $1 billion termination fee. There were rumors earlier this week that a settlement may have been reached after a forensic meeting involving Musk and Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal was canceled, but a new forensic meeting is still scheduled for today.