After Twitter whistleblower, another expert supports Musk on bot issue

#ElonMusk #TechNews #Twitter

Elon Musk has another supporter who claims Twitter has a bot issue
Dan Woods, cybersecurity expert who worked with FBI, CIA, said 80% Twittter users may be bots
Previously Peiter Zatko, Twitter whistleblower, also said the platform had a bot issue

Written By:Shuvrajit

Updated: August 31 2022 09:57:48 PM ET Austin, TX, USA

Elon Musk, Tesla and SpaceX CEO, has found another prominent voice in his fight against Twitter on the number of bots the social media platform has. Dan Woods, a cybersecurity expert who worked for over 20 years with US federal law enforcement and intelligence organisations like the FBI and CIA, told The Australian over 80% of Twitter accounts are probably bots. This is much higher than the 5% that the Jack Dorsey-founded company presented when discussing bot numbers with the potential buyer.

“Sure sounds higher than 5%!”, Musk quipped, adding, “On a $/bot basis, this deal is awesome”.

On a $/bot basis, this deal is awesome

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 1, 2022

The world’s richest man had offered $44 billion for Twitter but seemingly backed out of the deal over the number of bots on the platform. Musk contested that they affected the company valuation while Twitter remained adamant that the numbers couldn’t be judged the way Musk was proposing.

Also Read | Elon Musk sends letter to Twitter explaining why he cancelled buyout deal

Eventually, the social media company sued Musk for reneging and the bot numbers are coming out as part of the discovery process in the trial.

While the legal battle ensues, former securities network expert and ex-Twitter employee Peiter Zatko came forward to blow the whistle on cybersecurity issues in the social media company and shed light on the matter of bot numbers as well. Musk has now subpoenaed Zatko to appear in his trial.

The whistleblower next appears before Congress on September 13, to justify the allegations against Twitter. Musk has sought more time from his trial, hinging on the same, but if the court proves that the entrepreneur backed out of his deal, he could end up paying a $1 billion fine.

Also Read | Elon Musk warns mass extinction: How true is billionaire’s prediction?

Musk had previously engaged in a Twitter conversation with the company CEO Parag Agrawal where the two ended up disagreeing over the bot numbers. Since then, the innovator has addressed the issue in a number of ways, including a poll and memes, but it’s only recently that industry experts have begun speaking out in support of the billionaire’s stance.