Twitter’s board plans to comply with Elon Musk’s demands for internal data by offering access to its entire “firehose,” the massive stream of data comprising more than 500 million tweets posted each day.
The move tries to end a standoff with the billionaire, who has threatened to withdraw from his $44 billion plan to buy Twitter unless the firm grants access to data he claims is required to assess the number of fake users on the platform.
According to sources, the information might be supplied as soon as this week. Currently, approximately two dozen organisations pay for access to the database, which includes a real-time record of tweets and information about the devices from which they tweet and information about the accounts that tweet.
According to a letter addressed to Twitter on Monday, Musk’s legal team claims the data stream is critical for measuring the amount of spam and bot activity on its platform. This statistic might influence the company’s ad revenue.
Twitter’s problems with spam bots and fake accounts predate the platform’s 16-year tenure. For years, the business has claimed that bots and spam accounts account for less than 5% of all users on the service, a figure based on comprehensive audits.
However, based on their research, some experts think that amount is substantially higher — possibly double or triple the 5 percent figure.
Musk began complaining about the bot problem shortly after agreeing to buy the company and take it private for $44 billion in April.
Musk has claimed that the transaction is on hold until the information is obtained, prompting speculation that he is attempting to withdraw or renegotiate his purchase for a lower price. Some assume that Musk no longer wants to buy Twitter and that the bot issue allows him to walk away.
As things currently stand, Musk has no way out of the deal until governmental processes hamper it or he runs out of funds. Musk requested access to this data to develop his conclusion about Twitter’s bot problem. Still, when he signed the purchase agreement in April, he also waived his right to study Twitter’s finances and internal workings.
If gaining access to the firehose does not fix his platform problems, he may be forced to pay $1 billion to get out of the arrangement.
But this is Elon Musk we’re talking about. Anything is possible.