Musk is seeking evidence that contradicts Twitter’s claim that spam and false accounts accounted for less than 5% of monetizable daily active users (mDAUs) in the fourth quarter of 2021.
The subpoena requests any documents Zatko may have regarding the metric Twitter uses to count mDAUs, as well as anything related to the platform’s alleged spam issues. Musk’s legal team also questions the timing of Twitter’s firing of Zatko and other key employees.
Zatko claimed last week that Twitter’s senior executives covered up vulnerabilities, misled the board and regulators, failed to delete user data, and lacked the resources to conduct accurate audits to determine the number of bot accounts.
He also claims that in 2021, CEO Parag Agrawal asked him to provide false and misleading documents. Twitter categorically denies the allegations.
First, let me state the obvious: spam harms the experience for real people on Twitter, and therefore can harm our business. As such, we are strongly incentivized to detect and remove as much spam as we possibly can, every single day. Anyone who suggests otherwise is just wrong.
— Parag Agrawal (@paraga) May 16, 2022
Agrawal claimed on Twitter that Twitter is “strongly incentivized” to find and delete spam on a daily basis, but Zatko claims that is false.
On the contrary, he insists that Twitter’s head of site integrity stated that they have no idea how many fake accounts exist, and that executives do not want to know the exact figures because it would likely harm Twitter’s public image and share price.
Twitter lied to Musk about the “prevalence” of bots and spam accounts on the service, according to Zatko’s complaint to the SEC, FTC, and DoJ.
If this allegation is true, Twitter may have not only misled a potential buyer of the company, but it may also have violated federal laws when it filed its Form 10-K with the SEC.
The acquisition was initially thought to be unbreakable because either party would have to pay a $1 billion penalty if they backed out. When Musk tried to back out, Twitter sued, claiming the billionaire had broken his contract.
Musk then filed a countersuit, alleging that Twitter withheld fake account numbers and misled him during his due diligence.
The trial is scheduled for October 17. Zatko’s allegations have piqued the interest of Congress, which has launched an investigation into them. On September 14, he is scheduled to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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