In early April 2022, Elon Musk purchased 9.2% of Twitter stakes, claiming he wanted to shake up the social media industry. He was soon placed on their board, as Tweeted by CEO Parag Agrawal.
Soon after, Musk tweeted that he had made an offer to buy 100% of Twitter for $44 billion, and he attached a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing document confirming this. If the purchase is successful, the company will be taken private.
Photo Description: Tweet from Elon Musk that he made an offer to purchase Twitter.
Photo Description: Excerpt from SEC filing.
Numerous disinformation campaigns started from this point forward and have continued months later. The purchase also raised concerns about Twitter's future and the potential for new regulations.
Circulation of Misleading Claims Commence
Rumors and false information began to circulate immediately after news broke that Musk had made a purchase offer.
For instance, statements that Musk would reinstate former U.S. President Donald Trump's suspended account. Trump's account was deleted for breaking Twitter's rules by inciting violence after the Capitol Riot.
Photo Description: Fabricated tweet implying that Elon Musk reinstated Donald Trump’s suspended Twitter account.
Another widely circulated claim was that the purchase offer was made by bots rather than Musk, which is also false. Musk's offer to buy the social media company was reported by several credible sources.
Photo Description: Misleading tweet that Bots offered to purchase Twitter.
Some users also claimed that Twitter locked down Musk's account after he tried to back out of the deal. Contrary to what has been circulating, Musk's account was not temporarily disabled.
Photo Description: Fabricated image showing Elon Musk’s account on Twitter suspended.
Claims that Musk is considering an edit button, a link to Anonup, automatic reinstallation, and compensation for banned accounts also circulated.
The tweet, however, has been digitally altered and was not found on Musk's account on April 4, 2022.
Twitter Rejects Musk’s Withdrawal Offer
A few weeks after the purchase offer, Musk tweeted that the Twitter deal was "temporarily on hold." News outlets reported that Musk was terminating the deal because Twitter provided false and misleading information about the company.
In response to Musk's claims, CEO Agrawal wrote a 13-tweet thread in which he explained that less than 5% of Twitter accounts were bots.
Musk was legally committed to the purchase and could not cancel it without risking a $1 billion breakup fee. This was confirmed by Twitter board member Bret Taylor, who stated that they will take the matter to court, where Musk will have to prove that Twitter violated the terms of the deal.
Twitter claims that the bots issue was used as an excuse to back out of the agreement because the deal was no longer viable financially.
Musk revived his purchase agreement on Monday. The trial was scheduled to begin on October 17, but the judge in charge postponed it until October 28. Meanwhile, Musk stated that he needed more time to secure funding and that his financial backers are working hard to meet the October 28 deadline.
However, it remains unclear how the deal would impact Twitter.
Misbar’s Sources
Twitter
Twitter
Misbar
Misbar
Misbar
Elon Musk Twitter
Elon Musk Twitter
Elon Musk Twitter
Elon Musk Twitter
Reuters
Parag Agrawal Twitter
Parag Agrawal Twitter
Decrypt
The Guardian
Bloomberg
Bloomberg
PR News Wire
CNN
BBC
NY Times
