As Musk tries to wriggle out of his commitment to buy Twitter, the Texas Attorney General is trying to keep him out.
According to the announcement, his office is looking into whether or not the number of automated bots on the platform is misleading.
It's important for businesses and advertisers in Texas to use the social network. I have a duty to protect Texans if there's a misrepresentation of how many accounts are real.
If the company is found to have violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, they will be fined. People who have been affected by illegal practices may be able to file a lawsuit. The documents must be produced by June 27.
Musk was so familiar with the bot situation that he cited it specifically as something he would improve when he committed to buy the company.
It is difficult to imagine how many Texans would lose sleep over the estimates. In an election year, it is more likely that the investigation is a political signal. After defeating George P. Bush in the primary, Paxton is running for reelection.
It makes sense for the Texas AG to align himself with an ideological lightning rod who brought his high-tech business into the state. Musk left California at the end of 2020 because of the state's restrictions on the spread of COVID. Last year, the company relocated to Texas.
The law that invites Texans to sue platforms over their content practices was passed by the legislature and is being pressured by the state's attorney general. The law was put on hold by the Supreme Court after the appeals court paused the injunction.
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Musk has complained that the social media company misled him about the number of non-human users on it's platform. Musk claims that the methodology for measuring bots isn't sound. Musk made it clear in the letter that he intended to back out of the deal.
It is clear that this is a clear violation of the merger agreement and Mr. Musk has the right to walk away from the deal.
In May, the CEO of the company explained that the issue is addressed in the company's quarterly financial reports. The internal estimates for the last four quarters were all under 5%. We have confidence in our public statements because of the error margins on our estimates.
Let’s talk about spam. And let’s do so with the benefit of data, facts, and context…
— Parag Agrawal (@paraga) May 16, 2022
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