Twitter is being sued by former head of security at the social media company. Peter Mudge Zacko has accused Twitter of hiding negligent practices, misleading federal regulators about its safety and failing to properly estimate the number of spam accounts in operation. Musk declared he no longer wanted to buy Twitter because he alleged it had a massive problem with spam or automated, vexatious automated accounts. One million spam accounts are suspended every day by Twitter - largely by automated processes but also using human scrutiny as well.
Back in April this year, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk signed a $44bn (£40bn) takeover agreement for Twitter. But, in July, the world’s richest man said he was walking away from the controversial deal, arguing Twitter has more spam accounts than it claims. Then, last week, Musk offered to complete the acquisition in a dramatic U-turn. So what might happen next? Ian Sample talks to the Guardian’s global technology editor, Dan Milmo, about why Musk wants to own the social media platform, hears about the twists and turns of the saga so far, and finds out if the takeover is ever likely to happen. Help support our independent journalism at
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