Elon Musk was denied access to additional documents about Twitter’s internal measurement of robot and spam accounts after a judge concluded the company had already disclosed enough information as part of the billionaire’s legal battle. Twitter has “done enough” to hand over documents about so-called mDAU — a metric used to survey the social media platform’s human users, Delaware Chancery Judge Kathleen St. J. McCormick ruled Friday. Musk had sought more information to cancel the $44 billion (roughly Rs. 3.5 lakh crore) purchase of the company.
Musk and his lawyers repeatedly accused Twitter of trying to hide important documents and witnesses as they begin an Oct. 17 trial over whether the world’s richest man can legally walk away from the deal.
The billionaire claims that the company has not leveled the number of spam and bot accounts among its more than 230 million users. Twitter says Musk has buyer’s remorse and his anxiety is an excuse to pull out of the deal.
McCormick also rejected Musk’s request that Twitter officials further search the files under the terms “user-active minutes,” (UAM) or “stickiness,” two ways of measuring how long users stay on the platform.
Both sides have issued a fusillade of subpoenas and deposition requests to banks, investors and advisers involved in the racketeering transactions. McCormick has been forced to rule on about half a dozen disputes over document disclosure and other discovery issues.
Meanwhile, the judge appointed retired bankruptcy judge Chris Sonchi to serve as special master to oversee discovery disputes. Wilmington, Delaware-based Sonchi now works as an arbitrator and also serves as a judge at the Singapore International Commercial Court.
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