• News

Elon Musk says Twitter (TWTR) deal 'cannot move forward' without proof of 5% bot claim

Musk thinks that the number of fake and spam accounts on Twitter is significantly larger than what Twitter says.

Sam Chandler

May 17, 2022 1:52 AM

21

Elon Musk has come out stating that the Twitter (TWTR) deal he is currently in cannot move forward until there is proof that fewer than 5 percent of users are bots. This news comes after Musk had halted the deal pending more info on bot statistics.

In response to a Teslarati Tweet on May 17, 2022, Musk has stated that the deal to purchase Twitter cannot go forward until the CEO provides proof that fewer than 5 percent of Twitter users are bots. In the response, Musk notes that his offer was based on “Twitter’s SEC filings being accurate” and that the fake or spam accounts could be anywhere near four times what Twitter claims.

20% fake/spam accounts, while 4 times what Twitter claims, could be *much* higher.

My offer was based on Twitter’s SEC filings being accurate.

Yesterday, Twitter’s CEO publicly refused to show proof of <5%.

This deal cannot move forward until he does.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 17, 2022

For those just playing catch up, three weeks ago Twitter accepted Musk’s $44 billion deal to purchase the social media platform. Since then, Musk said he would unban Donald Trump though Trump says he won’t rejoin Twitter, the Orlando Police Pension Fund have sued Musk and Twitter Board of Directors wishing the deal to be delayed until 2025, and then Musk put the Twitter deal on hold pending information on bot stats.

CNBC reported that Twitter’s shares slipped by 2.22 percent in pre-market trading this week and Musk states that a Twitter deal at a lower price is “not out of the question”. It will be interesting to see how this review into Twitter’s bot statistics affects the company’s share price and whether it impacts Musk’s deal.

The report by CNBC goes on to reference Musk’s Tweets from Friday where he invites other users to repeat his process of working out the percentage of bot accounts. According to Musk, his process is to “Pick any account with a lot of followers. Ignore first 1000 followers, then pick every 10^th.” Musk states his team will do a “random sample of 100 followers” of the official Twitter account. Not only is this not random, it’s not a large sample size.

The story with Elon Musk and the purchase of Twitter is certainly one for the ages. We here at Shacknews will do our best to keep you up to date on how this story unfolds. Where do you think it’s going next and what percentage of Twitter users do you think are bots? Let us know in the comments.

Sam Chandler

Head of Guides

Hailing from the land down under, Sam Chandler brings a bit of the southern hemisphere flair to his work. After bouncing round a few universities, securing a bachelor degree, and entering the video game industry, he's found his new family here at Shacknews as Head of Guides. There's nothing he loves more than crafting a guide that will help someone. If you need help with a guide, or notice something not quite right, you can message him on X: @SamuelChandler