Elon Musk on Friday announced terminating the $44 billion offer to buy microblogging site Twitter citing the failure of providing adequate information about the number of fake accounts.
According to AFP, Musk’s lawyer Mike Ringler took to Twitter and complained that his client (Musk) waited for nearly two months to seek data on “fake or spam” accounts on the social media platform. Today, we look at the timeline of events from Musk announcing the acquisition of Twitter to its termination.
Twitter acquisition
After Musk acquired Twitter for approximately $44 billion with shares valued at $54.20, the tech entrepreneur made a lot of comments about what he intends to do with the social platform.
In a filing to the US SEC, Musk wrote, “I invested in Twitter as I believe in its potential to be the platform for free speech around the globe, and I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy,” adding that “Twitter has extraordinary potential. I will unlock it.”
Musk’s ‘free speech’ fiasco
Musk tweeted his stance on free speech, speculations rose that he will allow hatred, in the name of free speech on Twitter. However, the tech CEO clarified that he is against any kind of censorship that goes far beyond the law.
“The extreme antibody reaction from those who fear free speech says it all. By “free speech”, I simply mean that which matches the law. I am against censorship that goes far beyond the law. If people want less free speech, they will ask the government to pass laws to that effect. Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people,” he wrote on his Twitter feed.
The tech CEO wanted to make Twitter fun for everyone. He had also posted that Twitter needs to be “needs to be politically neutral” to regain ‘public trust’. “The far left hates everyone, themselves included! But I’m no fan of the far-right either. Let’s have less hate and more love,” he wrote in a tweet.
Paying for Twitter
The billionaire also made plans to monetise the platform. He tweeted that while the platform will always be free for casual users, there may be a slight cost for “commercial/government users.”
In May, Twitter offered Musk access to raw data on hundreds of millions of daily tweets, according to multiple reports, though neither the company nor Musk confirmed that.
The warning
In June, Musk in an interview with Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief John spoke about his $44 billion takeover of Twitter. He cautioned there are a number of issues to get an accurate measure of bots.
Musk said, ” the proportion of fake, spam and bot accounts on the service is still a very significant matter…and of course there is the question of, will the debt portion of the round come together, and then will the shareholders vote in favor.”
Ending the deal
Musk ended the deal stating that Twitter breached multiple provisions of the agreement. This includes more than 5 per cent of bots, and failing to provide data on letting go of some executives and recruiters. Meanwhile, Twitter’s chairman is executing legal action against Musk to enforce the deal.
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