Musk Bid for More Data on Twitter Bot Accounts Denied by Judge

Elon Musk was denied access to additional documents about Twitter Inc.’s internal measure of robot and spam accounts after a judge concluded the company already disclosed enough of the information as part of the billionaire’s legal fight over a scuttled takeover.

Twitter has “done enough” to turn over documents about the so-called mDAU — a measure used to investigate human users of the social media platform, Delaware Chancery Judge Kathaleen St. J. McCormick. Musk had requested more information to bolster his bid to cancel a $44 billion takeover of the company.

Musk and his lawyers have repeatedly accused Twitter of seeking to hide crucial documents and witnesses as they prepare for a trial on Oct. 17 on whether the world’s richest person can legitimately opt out. the agreement.

The billionaire claims the company has not told him about the number of spam and bot accounts among its more than 230 million users. Twitter says Musk has buyer’s remorse and his worries are a pretext to get out of a deal.

McCormick also denied Musk’s request. Twitter officials search the files further for “active user minutes” (AUM) or “stickiness,” two ways to measure how long users stay on the platform.

Both sides have issued a series of subpoenas and filing requests to banks, investors and advisers involved in the shaky deal. McCormick has been forced to adjudicate half a dozen disputes over document disclosure and other discovery issues.

Meanwhile, the judge also appointed Chris Sontchi, a retired bankruptcy judge, to serve as a special master to oversee discovery litigation. Sontchi, based in Wilmington, Delaware, now works as a mediator and is also a judge at the Singapore International Commercial Court.

October 01, 2022