(Reuters) – Elon Musk on Saturday challenged Twitter Inc Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal to a public debate about the percentage of bots on the social media platform.
“Let him prove to the public that Twitter has <5% fake or spam daily users!,” Musk said in a tweet.
He also started a poll asking users whether less than 5% of Twitter daily users are fake/spam.
Less than 5% of Twitter daily users are fake/spam
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 6, 2022
Twitter on Thursday dismissed a claim by Musk that he was hoodwinked into signing a $44 billion agreement to buy the company.
Musk filed a countersuit against Twitter on July 29, escalating his legal fight against the company over his bid to walk away from the purchase agreement.
Musk has said his planned $44 billion takeover of Twitter should move forward if the company can confirm some details about how it measures whether user accounts are spam bots or real people.
The billionaire and Tesla CEO has been trying to back out of his April agreement to buy the social media company, leading Twitter to sue him last month to complete the acquisition.
Musk countersued, accusing Twitter of misleading his team about the true size of its user base and other problems he said amounted to fraud and breach of contract.
Both sides are headed toward an October trial in a Delaware court.
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, Musk tweeted early Saturday. However, if it turns out that their SEC filings are materially false, then it should not.
Twitter has argued in court that Musk is deliberately trying to tank the deal because market conditions have deteriorated and the acquisition no longer serves his interests.
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