(Bloomberg) — Twitter Inc. “stonewalled” Elon Musk on requests to nail down how much of the social-media platform is spam and robot accounts, and has refused access to data from a whistleblower who claimed the company was hiding the true figures, the billionaire’s lawyer told a judge.
(Bloomberg) — Twitter Inc. “stonewalled” Elon Musk on requests to nail down how much of the social-media platform is spam and robot accounts, and has refused access to data from a whistleblower who claimed the company was hiding the true figures, the billionaire’s lawyer told a judge.
Musk claims Twitter’s user figures are inflated by the accounts, citing them as a reason for ditching his $44 billion buyout of the company. That kicked off a legal fight in Delaware as Twitter seeks to get him to consummate the deal. Musk’s attorney asked a judge Wednesday to grant him access to employees who compile the data.
“We’re been left in position that a core metric of their business, they aren’t providing the data necessary,” said Alex Sprio, who represented the billionaire at the hearing. “It puts us at a huge disadvantage. We’re the would-be buyer.”
Twitter attorney Bradley Wilson said the company had provided Musk with information on spam and robot accounts that was “explicitly an estimate.” He also said Musk hadn’t shown any reason why that information is relevant to his plan to cancel the takeover.
Musk wants the data so he can get a “do-over” that would allow his experts to “analyze the number and see if they can come up with a different number,” Twitter lawyer Bradley Wilson said Wednesday during a court hearing.
Twitter’s lawyer said the request by Musk also raises user privacy issues, and involved “trillions upon trillions of bits of data going back more than two years,” he said.
After the hearing Wednesday, Delaware Chancery Court Judge Kathaleen St. J. McCormick said she’d rule on Musk’s request later.
The dispute is the latest in an expanding legal fight, with Musk and Twitter issuing subpoenas to banks, investors and lawyers involved in the teetering deal agreement as they seek ammunition for an Oct. 17 trial. Jack Dorsey, Twitter’s former chief executive officer, was subpoenaed earlier this week.
Whistle-Blower Claims
Spiro said Twitter repeatedly refused to turn over files and messages from Peiter Zatko, Twitter’s ex-head of security, who filed a whistle-blower lawsuit. Zatko claimed he raised questions about bots in early 2021 and was told by Twitter’s head of site integrity the firm didn’t know how many bots were on the platform. He also said his Twitter colleagues showed no interest in delving into the issue.
Musk’s lawyers have subpoenaed Zatko and he may be called to testify at the trial in October to determine if Musk must complete his acquisition of Twitter.
The billionaire’s legal team attempted to force Twitter to designate Zatko as a records custodian, but officials of the platform said he wasn’t involved in evaluating the number of bots embedded in its customer base, Spiro said. “They didn’t want him turning over his data and telling us what he knew,” Spiro said.
Zatko, fired earlier this year from Twitter, alleged “egregious deficiencies” in the platform’s defenses against hackers and privacy issues, according to a copy of his whistle-blower complaint.
The case is Twitter v. Musk, 22-0613, Delaware Chancery Court (Wilmington).
(Updates with judge saying she’ll decide on Musk’s data request later.)
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