Because of the high-tech era, accessibility to anything is possible with a few clicks, so if you want to use an online gaming site such as Vulkan Vegas or access the widely used social media platform Twitter. In fact, due to the fast services, global news has become the talk of the town. Recently, Elon Musk has been a sensation in the online world, and there is especially significant criticism, argumentation, and debate on the social media platforms regarding his decision to acquire Twitter. However, to get on with the development, knowing the background of all this drama is very important:
What Happened Previously?
Back in April, Musk made an offer to Twitter. According to the social media platform, it considered Tesla CEO’s ‘best and final offer worth $44 billion to acquire Twitter. According to the agreement, Musk was to own Twitter to become his private property. At the same time, the current stockholders were to receive $54.20 per share once it was acquired.
The Follow-Up of the Agreement
We could see that, as soon as the acquisition of Twitter was announced, Musk looked busier in bringing the major changes to Twitter. One of the interesting things was to promote free speech, which according to the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, was fundamental for the functioning of democracy. That’s why, on March 25, 2022, he tweeted a poll for ‘Free Speech,’ and 70% of its results showed that Twitter did not uphold free speech.
Way Towards Democracy
During all that hype period, Musk seemed to be working on what Twitter was restraining: bringing better features for the users, ‘defeating the spam bots and enabling the algorithms that could increase trust.
While continuing the free speech episode, Musk also Tweeted that he would like to promote free speech, and that’s why he would prefer his worst critics to stay on the platform too.
Announcing More For the Users
Musk again stirred his followers through a poll for if they wanted an edit button. So, 70% of the users went in its favor. However, two days later, the Twitter official added that they were already working on an edit button, and it had nothing to do with Musk’s poll.
All the excitement for a new Twitter owner brought so many speculations, and many of the users were expecting that this change would unban the previously banned users on the platform.
A Turn in the News
Well, to many users’ disappointment, Musk withdrew from a $44 billion offer to acquire Twitter on July 8, 2022. According to Tesla’s owner, Twitter did not satisfy him with enough information regarding the fake account numbers on the platform. Consequently, it generated a reaction from Twitter that it would sue Musk for upholding the deal.
Of course, one could predict a gigantic legal battle between the most widely used social media platform against the world’s richest man. To proceed with the things, Musk’s lawyer Mike Ringler sent a letter to Twitter’s board where the complaint stated that the company failed to provide his client with the information that was needed to be related to fake or spam accounts on Twitter. It also clearly mentioned that Musk’s requests to get that information was rejected or ignored, which was unjustified. However, to comply with the requests, the information that was provided was not sufficient enough.
Leading to the Legal Battles
Musk himself also confirmed that the information was insufficient, and to acquire Twitter’s business, it was necessary to have all the data for the best financial performance. So, here is what is the follow-up and the consequences of all the drama:
- The trial at the court in Delaware, where the business disputes are handled, will be presented there.
- Chairperson Bret Taylor tweeted to close the transaction on the agreed-upon terms and price.
- According to Twitter’s board, legal actions will deal with it.
Twitter Facing the Repercussions
All the drama was played on Twitter, where Musk has over 100 million followers, and he firmed his stance that the platform was restricting the freedom of speech. Thus, it failed to lie about the potential of creating a reliable social media platform.
With all the drama unraveling that day, the shares of Twitter fell by 5%, which went down to $36.81. These actually went below what Musk agreed to pay $54.20. Meanwhile, Tesla’s shares increased 2.5% to $752.29. When the stock market was closed, Twitter’s stocks were still declining.
On the following Thursday, after all such drama, Twitter held a briefing with the journalists and its company’s executives to explain how it counts the fake accounts. Every day about one million spam accounts are removed, which are actually below 5% of the active users.
Next, to count the malicious accounts, it uses random sampling as well as public and private data, including location, phone number, IP addresses, and how the account behaves when it is active. It is how it reviews thousands of accounts each day and whether it is malicious.