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After a deadlock for a few weeks, Twitter’s board plans to comply with Elon Musk’s demands for internal data by providing access to its “fire sleeve,” the massive data stream that includes more than 500 million tweets published daily, according to a person familiar with the company’s thinking, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the state of negotiations.
The move is aimed at ending a clash with the billionaire, who has threatened to withdraw from its $ 44 billion deal to buy Twitter unless the company provides access to data it says is needed to assess the number of fake users on the platform.
The information could be provided as early as this week, the person said. Currently, about two dozen companies pay to access the fund, which includes not only a real-time log of tweets, but also the devices from which they tweet, as well as information about the accounts they tweet.
At the May 10 Financial Times Future of the Car summit, Tesla’s CEO said banning then-President Donald Trump on Twitter permanently was “stupid anyway.” (Video: Financial Times)
Musk’s legal team says data flow is critical to understanding the amount of spam and bot activity on its platform, a figure that could affect the company’s advertising revenue, according to a letter sent Monday. on Twitter.
Musk has said the deal is pending until he gets the information, adding to speculation that he is trying to withdraw or renegotiate his purchase for a lower price. When he signed his initial deal to buy the company in April, he relinquished his right to look closely at Twitter’s finances and internal workings. The purchase agreement requires Musk to comply with the agreement unless he can show that the company has deceived him or that an important event has changed its value.
Elon Musk is threatening to withdraw from the Twitter deal for data retention
Twitter leaders are skeptical about Musk’s ability to use data to find previously undetected information – data flow has been available for years for companies that pay Twitter for the ability to analyze it to find patterns and knowledge in everyday conversation. They, along with some Silicon Valley analysts and experts, say Musk is using the data requests as a pretext to get out of the deal or to negotiate a lower price.
Spam activity is important to your computer because if Twitter is underestimating spam in its service, the company’s estimates of how many users might show ads would be smaller, affecting revenue.
In Monday’s letter to Twitter attorney general Vijaya Gadde, Musk’s lawyers accused Twitter of refusing to provide information about spam and fake accounts than the billionaire, who is the richest man in the world , asks from May 9.
Musk “must have a complete and accurate understanding of the core of Twitter’s business model: its active user base,” said Skadden Arps, Slate, Meagher and Flom’s attorneys. “Twitter’s latest offer to simply provide additional details about the company’s own test methodologies, whether through written materials or verbal explanations, is tantamount to rejecting Mr. Musk’s data requests.”
Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Twitter spokesman Scott Bisang told The Washington Post in Monday’s statement from the company. “Twitter has shared and will continue to share information cooperatively with Mr. Musk to complete the transaction in accordance with the terms of the merger agreement,” the statement said. “We believe this agreement is in the best interests of all shareholders. We intend to close the transaction and enforce the merger agreement at the agreed price and conditions.”
Twitter’s challenges with robots and fake accounts have existed for almost as long as the 16-year-old platform. For years, the company has reported that robots and spam accounts account for less than 5 percent of service users, a figure the company has obtained from thorough audits. (This figure does not include automated accounts allowed by the service.)
But some external researchers, based on their studies, suggest that the percentage is actually much higher, perhaps double or triple the 5% figure.
Questions about robots are nothing new to Twitter
Musk began complaining about the bot problem shortly after he agreed to acquire and take over the $ 44 billion private company in April. He has used his own massive Twitter megaphone to threaten to put the deal “on hold” and has insisted the deal could not “move forward” until Twitter provides further proof of its methods for detecting spam.
Musk has pledged more than $ 33 billion of his own wealth, which comes largely from his Tesla ownership, to complete the deal. But as the stock market has been hit by a global sell-off in technology stocks, Tesla stock prices have plummeted and some analysts have speculated that Musk has buyer’s remorse.
Faiz Siddiqui contributed to this report.