Twitter demands to know who Elon Musk has been talking to about spam bots

An associate of Mr Musk Joe Lonsdale, who also received a subpoena, characterised it as a ‘harassing fishing expedition’

(AFP via Getty Images)

Twitter is looking into Elon Musk’s associates to find out who he may have been talking to about his offer to buy the company.

The social media company is using a subpoena to ask for any communications about spam and bots between Mr Musk and Chamath Palihapitiya, David Sacks, Steve Jurvetson, Marc Andreessen, Jason Calacanis and Keith Rabois – some of which have been involved in Mr Musk’s funding of his Twitter purchase and some of whom seemingly have not.

Twitter is trying to force the billionaire to make good on his April promise to buy the company for $44bn (£37bn).

The document – obtained by the Washington Post – asks for communications including “checklists, timelines, presentations, decks, organizational calls, meetings, notes [and] recordings” regarding the deal.

It also asks for information about the All-In Summit 2022 where Mr Musk, speaking via video call, said that “the more questions I ask, the more my concerns grow” about the deal and that he could seek a lower price for Twitter.

He also accused the company of misleading him about the number of fake accounts on the platform at the event, something he often tweeted about.

Mr Musk suggested that he did not believe Twitter’s own estimate that less than five per cent of the active accounts on its platform were automated or spam accounts. Mr Musk also replied to Twitter chief executive Parag Agrawal’s explanation of how the company measures bots on the platform with the poop emoji – which Twitter submitted in its court documents.

A subpoena was also sent to Joe Lonsdale, an associate of Mr Musk, who characterised it as a “harassing fishing expedition.”

A trial between the world’s richest man and the social media company will occur for five days between 17 October and 21 October in Delaware Court of Chancery to settle what happens regarding the purchase.

Twitter declined to comment to The Independent. Mr Palihapitiya, Mr Sacks, Mr Calacanis, Mr Jurvetson, Mr Rabois, nor Mr Musk’s representatives responded to the Washington Post’s request for comment.