Elon Musk is once again challenging Twitter on the data it reports on spam bots and fake accounts, and this time he wants a public debate to settle the matter.
Responding to a tweet thread by cybersecurity researcher Andrea Stroppa summarizing Musk’s countersuit against Twitter, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO wrote on Saturday that he would proceed with his proposed $44 billion takeover of Twitter if the social platform disclosed how it tracks bots.
“If Twitter simply provides their method of sampling 100 accounts and how they’re confirmed to be real, the deal should proceed on original terms. However, if it turns out that their SEC filings are materially false, then it should not,” Musk wrote.
In a follow-up tweet, he added: “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!” He also created a poll, asking for yes or no answers to the prompt “Less than 5% of Twitter daily users are fake/spam.”
Information on the number of Twitter users that are actually bots and fake accounts has been crucial in Musk’s legal feud with the company.
