After Musk and his drama, Texas Attorney General is investigating Twitter over bots

Just a day after Elon Musk sent a letter to Twitter accusing it of “resisting and thwarting” his right to information regarding the spam bots on the platform, he’s gotten some backing, of sorts, from the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Musk’s letter, written by his attorney Mike Ringler and addressed to Vijaya Gadde, mentions that Twitter’s refusal to share the information Musk requested for is “a clear material breach of Twitter’s obligations under the merger agreement and Mr. Musk reserves all rights resulting therefrom, including his right not to consummate the transaction and his right to terminate the merger agreement”. Long story, short - Musk is in a way trying to “squirm out of his commitment to buy Twitter”, as TechCrunch rightly pointed out.

Paxton has announced that his office is investigating how Twitter may be “misleading Texans” about the spam bots on the platform.

“It matters not only for regular Twitter users, but also Texas businesses and advertisers who use Twitter for their livelihoods. If Twitter is misrepresenting how many accounts are fake to drive up their revenue, I have a duty to protect Texans,” Paxton said.

He added that he has requested Twitter for documents via a Civil Investigative Demand to “determine if the company has run afoul of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act in its bot estimates”. The Texas AG’s website mentions that people affected by illegal practices under the law can sue for damages. Twitter has been given time till June 27 to furnish documents.

Given that nothing really has changed with Twitter’s “longstanding bot situation”, something that Musk knew about before he committed to buy Twitter and promised to improve on, Paxton’s announcement “seems designed to carry water for the billionaire Tesla CEO”.

TechCrunch called Paxton’s investigation “just a bit of political signaling in an election year” since the AG is running for reelection in November. Musk relocated Tesla to Texas last year.

On the other hand, Musk’s repeated tweets and attacks on the platform, its CEO and its practices in general, followed by the letter sent in last week just shows that the billionaire is getting “cold feet over the Twitter deal”. According to the SEC agreement drawn up regarding Twitter’s sale, if Musk does not follow through, he will have to pay a $1 billion termination fee.

Also Read: Elon Musk accuses Twitter of ‘resisting and thwarting’ his right to information regarding fake accounts

Also Read: Waiting period for Elon Musk's deal has expired, says Twitter