Nunes on Musk’s Twitter bot problem: $44B price tag ‘hard to justify’ with fake accounts
Twitter to reportedly provide Elon Musk with ‘firehose’ of internal user data
After Elon Musk’s Twitter bid was reportedly put on hold over threats around a lack of information regarding fake accounts, Trump Media & Technology CEO Devin Nunes backed the billionaires' concerns on "Mornings with Maria" Friday.
"That $44 billion price tag, it's tough to justify when there's so many bots and fake accounts," Nunes told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo.
On Wednesday, Musk appeared to score a victory after the social media giant agreed to hand over a "firehose" of internal data on fake and spam accounts, as reported by The Washington Post.
While Twitter had previously reported to the SEC that fake accounts made up less than 5% of its users, Musk – and Nunes – have argued that number to be untrue, with Musk believing it’s closer to 20%.
"I'm going to stick with this, that it's going to be a lot closer to being 95% bots than it is going to be 5% bots," Nunes said.
The CEO, who oversees social media platform Truth Social, asserted the company is "constantly having to fight that battle" against bots, and explained how the fake accounts contribute to "astroturfing."
"It starts with a fake news narrative. It runs through the fake news, they produce fake news stories and then they shove it into places like Twitter that just becomes a sewer," Nunes noted. "And I think that's the challenge Elon Musk is going to have."
Nunes also discussed former President Donald Trump’s thoughts on Musk’s Twitter takeover.
"President Trump and I have been very clear, look, we're all for it," the CEO said. "Our mission at Truth Social is to open the internet back up, give the American people their voice back."
Every tech company will inevitably face a spam or bot "problem," Nunes asserted, but the "mission" should remain to recruit real people and their voices to your respective platform.
"We know where the users are," Nunes pointed out. "They're on Instagram, and they're on TikTok. And for our business, that's where we have to go."
"That $44 billion price tag, it's tough to justify when there's so many bots and fake accounts," Nunes told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo.
On Wednesday, Musk appeared to score a victory after the social media giant agreed to hand over a "firehose" of internal data on fake and spam accounts, as reported by The Washington Post.
While Twitter had previously reported to the SEC that fake accounts made up less than 5% of its users, Musk – and Nunes – have argued that number to be untrue, with Musk believing it’s closer to 20%.
"I'm going to stick with this, that it's going to be a lot closer to being 95% bots than it is going to be 5% bots," Nunes said.
The CEO, who oversees social media platform Truth Social, asserted the company is "constantly having to fight that battle" against bots, and explained how the fake accounts contribute to "astroturfing."
"It starts with a fake news narrative. It runs through the fake news, they produce fake news stories and then they shove it into places like Twitter that just becomes a sewer," Nunes noted. "And I think that's the challenge Elon Musk is going to have."
Nunes also discussed former President Donald Trump’s thoughts on Musk’s Twitter takeover.
"President Trump and I have been very clear, look, we're all for it," the CEO said. "Our mission at Truth Social is to open the internet back up, give the American people their voice back."
Every tech company will inevitably face a spam or bot "problem," Nunes asserted, but the "mission" should remain to recruit real people and their voices to your respective platform.
"We know where the users are," Nunes pointed out. "They're on Instagram, and they're on TikTok. And for our business, that's where we have to go."
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
