Elon Musk has dropped the hammer on a disgruntled former employee who made false claims to a media outlet so they could write a hit piece on the Twitter CEO.
An ex-Twitter engineer made fake whistleblower claims to the tech news outlet Platformer.
The unidentified employee claimed that Musk made changes to Twitter’s software to ensure that his tweets are shown first.
Several corporate media outlets, including the Washington Post, repeated the claims without verifying their authenticity.
Musk said:
“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.”
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.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 17, 2023
“Several major media sources incorrectly reported that my Tweets were boosted above normal levels earlier this week,” Musk added.
“A review of my Tweet likes & views over the past 6 months, especially as a ratio of followers, shows this to be false.
“On the plus side, their constant reporting about me on Twitter has driven usage to record levels.”
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.
We did have a bug that briefly caused…
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 17, 2023
Musk also blasted The Washington Post for unquestionably publishing the claims:
“Your article is false and obviously so.
“Do you really do no research at all?
“I mean, like reading a few tweets, for example.”
Musk added:
“We did have a bug that briefly caused replies to have the same prominence as primary Tweets, but that has now been fixed.
“Note: if many people who you follow or like also follow me, it is highly probable that the algorithm will recommend my tweets.
“It’s not super sophisticated.
“In coming months, we will offer the ability to adjust the algorithm to closer match what is most compelling to you.
“The algorithm needs & will get major upgrades.
“We will still publish it later this month, but please expect to see many bugs & silly logic!
“What matters is showing users compelling content.
“We’re doing better than before (I think). User-minutes are up >10% from last year.
“That’s been true for a long time & is a function of an account’s popularity (Bieber was top recommendation).
“I don’t think we should suggest anyone, but just show new users the most interesting tweets on system & adjust according to what they like.
“Sorry for showing you so many irrelevant & annoying ads on Twitter!
“We’re taking the (obvious) corrective action of tying ads to keywords & topics in tweets, like Google does with search.
“This will improve contextual relevance dramatically.”
For example, despite having ~40M fewer followers back then, I have yet to come anywhere close to this gem pic.twitter.com/bXVRqNQZhT
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 17, 2023
