How is Elon Musk’s attempt to worm his way out of a pricey Twitter deal going? Not so great! After promising to fork over a fortune for the social media service, which he may or may not overhaul, he’s in the midst of being sued for reneging on the deal, thus jeopardizing the company’s earnings. The trial won’t happen till the fall, but Musk been trying to meme his way out of the deal. On Saturday, he took a break from shirtless pics to reveal with his latest move: pull a “debate me, bro” with Twitter’s CEO.
I hereby challenge @paraga to a public debate about the Twitter bot percentage.
Let him prove to the public that Twitter has <5% fake or spam daily users!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 6, 2022
As per Insider, the Tesla honcho responded to a tweet thread by cybersecurity researcher (and self-described “SpaceX fan”) Andrea Stroppa, who proposed a solution to dealing with one of Musk’s claims: that an overwhelming number of Twitter users are bots.
“If Twitter simply provides their method of sampling 100 accounts and how they’re confirmed to be real, the deal should proceed on original terms,” Stroppa offered. “However, if it turns out that their SEC filings are materially false, then it should not.”
Musk weighed in. “Good summary of the problem,” he wrote in a reply. “If Twitter simply provides their method of sampling 100 accounts and how they’re confirmed to be real, the deal should proceed on original terms. However, if it turns out that their SEC filings are materially false, then it should not.”
He then went one big step further. I hereby challenge [Twitter CEO Parag Agrawal] to a public debate about the Twitter bot percentage. Let him prove to the public that Twitter has <5% fake or spam daily users!”
It’s a move beloved by many on the far right. When their ideas receive backlash or debunking, figures like Ben Shapiro and Dinesh D’Souza love to challenge to a debate, perhaps knowing that their debate team skills may be able to give the illusion that they’re correct.
Musk has claimed that at least 20% of Twitter accounts are spam or fake, and he’s used that as an excuse to back out of a deal that could jeopardize a portion of his wealth. But if his debate skills are as good as his live comedy chops, Twitter execs may need not worry.
(Via Insider)