After Twitter reported that false or spam accounts encompassed less than 5% of its 226 million monetizable daily active users, Elon Musk announced via tweet that he's putting his deal to buy the social network "on hold" for the meantime, as per The Verge.
Twitter's filing came days after Musk tweeted that one of his priorities would be to remove "spam bots" from the platform.
"Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users," Musk tweeted to his more than 92 million followers on the platform.
Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of usershttps://t.co/Y2t0QMuuyn
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 13, 2022
The Tesla CEO, who's buying the social media app for $44 billion, said he would like to receive more information about how many fake accounts there are on the social media platform, as per CBNC report.
Twitter's Shares Plunged After Musk's Announcement
Following Musk announcement that the buyout is temporarily on hold, Twitter's share price plunged to 19%. There were no words from the company's representative when requested for a comment.
But even before Friday's announcement, Twitter's market value had fallen to $9 billion beneath the offer price due to concerns about the deal, said CNBC.
In a filing earlier this month, the social media company estimated that fewer than 5% of its monetizable daily active users during the first quarter were bots or spam accounts.
According to CNBC, Musk, who previously tweeted that one of his main priorities would be to remove "spam bots" from the platform, now wants the company to confirm this before he continues with the deal.
According to The Verge, putting the deal temporarily on hold represents the latest speedbump in Musk's attempted takeover of the social media network.
Initially, the social media app announced a that they used the so-called "poison pill" measure to prevent the Musk's acquisition, before eventually accepting the buyout in late April.
Musk is After Defeating the Spam Bots
In a tweet, Musk said that if he buys Twitter he "will defeat the spam bots or die trying." He has blamed the company's reliance on advertising for why it has let spam bots proliferate, said Reuters in a report.
The social media platform had 229 million users who were served advertising in the first quarter.
Musk has also been critical of the social media app's moderation policy. According to him, Twitter's algorithm must prioritize tweets to be public. He was also against too much power on the service to corporations that advertise.
However, according to the slides he presented to investors that were reported by the New York Times, Musk is targeting advertising revenue to more than double by 2028. This is according to a Reuters' report.
According to the investor presentation, ads are expected to make up about 45% of the company's total revenue.
Reuters reported that Musk said earlier this week that he would reverse Twitter's ban on former U.S. President Donald Trump when he buys the social media platform, signaling his intention to cut moderation.
During a Financial Times conference, Musk said that Twitter's banning of Trump's account a "morally bad decision," as per CNET report.
Related Article: UK Parliament Invites Elon Musk to Discuss Twitter Acquisition
