Elon Musk says his Twitter posts were not boosted, plans to take legal action against employee

Twitter CEO Elon Musk is in the headlines again for his tweets. This time, however, it's not because of their content, but because of allegations that his tweets were artificially boosted by a Twitter employee. Denying the claims, Musk on Friday said the allegations are baseless and added that he plans to take legal action against the employee in question.

The allegations first came to light earlier this week when much of the Twitter 'For You' feed of a majority of people were filled with Musk's tweets, retweets, and replies. According to a report by Platformer, the social media giant was accused of artificially boosting Musk's tweets. It was claimed that Twitter had a secret team dedicated to promoting Musk's tweets, which allowed them to gain more visibility and engagement on the platform than they would have otherwise.

Musk has now responded to these allegations. Taking to Twitter, he said, "Several major media sources incorrectly reported that my Tweets were boosted above normal levels earlier this week. A review of my Tweet likes & views over the past 6 months, especially as a ratio of followers, shows this to be false."

Musk further noted that there was "a bug that briefly caused replies to have the same prominence as primary Tweets, but that has now been fixed." The billionaire said that the algorithm issue was caused by a disgruntled employee and that legal action will be taken against them. 

"The “source” of the bogus Platformer article is a disgruntled employee who had been on paid time off for months, had already accepted a job at Google and felt the need to poison the well on the way out. Twitter will be taking legal action against him," Musk tweeted.

Platformer reporter Casey Newton has also tweeted about the incident and stood by the reporting. "This is completely false. We stand by our reporting."

It's not the first time that Musk has been embroiled in controversy over his use of Twitter. In 2018, he tweeted that he was considering taking Tesla private, which caused the company's stock price to soar. The tweet was later found to be misleading, and Musk was fined $20 million by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

However, in this case, Musk is adamant that his tweets were not artificially boosted. It remains to be seen what evidence he will present to back up his claims, or what the outcome of any legal action might be.

The incident has also raised questions about Twitter's internal processes and how it moderates content on its platform. Twitter has faced criticism in the past for its handling of fake news and misinformation, and these latest allegations will only add to concerns about the company's ability to police its platform effectively.

The incident also raises wider questions about Twitter's internal processes and moderation practices, which will no doubt continue to be scrutinized in the months to come.

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