Hours after Tesla CEO Elon Musk knowledgeable Twitter that he wished to terminate their $44 billion acquisition deal, prompting the social media community to sue, a rumor started spreading on Twitter. It goes like this: Twitter felt so betrayed that Musk was backing out of the deal that it had suspended his account. While that will surely make for juicy web drama, it’s simply not true.

The rumor appears to have begun with a tweeted screenshot, shared by the satire and meme account @HighyieldHarry, exhibiting that Musk’s account had been suspended. At first look, the screenshot seems to be sensible—the consumer deal with appears to be like identical to the @elonmusk account that usually wreaks havoc on-line. In reality, in case you click on on the supposed Musk account in @HighyieldHarry’s tweet, it takes you to a suspended account’s web page.

The Truth Behind the Suspended Musk Account on Twitter

Yet, web sleuths and misinformation researchers on Twitter shortly discovered the trick. @elonmusk was the tech billionaire’s actual account and was nonetheless energetic. The different one, in the meantime, was a faux account. If you’ll be able to’t see the distinction—I certain couldn’t—put together to be blown away: the faux account truly reads “@eionmusk.” It simply appears to be like like Musk’s actual account as a result of the offender capitalized the “i.”

Twitter confirmed to Gizmodo early Monday that the @eionmusk account had been suspended for impersonation and pointed us to its misleading and deceptive identities coverage.

Notably, the social media community didn’t take motion on the tweet from @HighyieldHarry with the screenshot and the hyperlink to “@eionmusk.” As of 6 a.m. ET on Monday, the tweet was nonetheless on-line with no label indicating it was misinformation. To date, it has been retweeted greater than 18,600 instances, quote tweeted 5,800 instances, and preferred 135,000 instances.

In response to Gizmodo’s inquiry on whether or not it might act on @HighyieldHarry’s tweet, Twitter mentioned it does not take motion on content material that features references or hyperlinks to impersonated accounts.

The Real Elon Musk Account Is Still Active and Tweeting Memes

Meanwhile, the actual @elonmusk is doing what he does greatest: sharing memes and laughing about his drama with Twitter. In the early hours on Monday, Musk tweeted a meme of himself stating that Twitter can be pressured to reveal data on the variety of bots on its platform in court docket.

The billionaire has been obsessed with the variety of faux and spam accounts on Twitter for months and cited the corporate’s refusal to supply him with all the data he wished on the matter as one of many causes for backing out of the deal. Twitter, alternatively, maintains that the variety of faux and spam accounts on its platform is lower than 5%, one thing Musk has doubted for months.

“Preliminary analysis by Mr. Musk’s advisors of the information provided by Twitter to date causes Mr. Musk to strongly believe that the proportion of false and spam accounts included in the reported mDAU [monthly daily active user] count is wildly higher than 5%,” Musk’s legal professionals wrote in their letter to Twitter informing the corporate in regards to the termination of the deal on Friday.

Yet, Musk can’t unilaterally again away from the settlement. In response to Musk’s letter, Twitter’s board chairman Bret Taylor promised authorized motion.

“The Twitter Board is committed to closing the transaction on the price and terms agreed upon with Mr. Musk and plans to pursue legal action to enforce the merger agreement. We are confident we will prevail in the Delaware Court of Chancery,” Taylor tweeted on Friday.

Musk and Twitter Get Their Lawyers Ready

The Verge reported that Twitter had employed the regulation agency Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, in addition to founding associate Martin Lipton, to characterize it in its swimsuit in opposition to Musk. Martin Lipton is legendary for creating the shareholder rights plan, also referred to as a “poison pill,” in 1983 to defend in opposition to hostile takeovers. Onlookers will do not forget that Twitter initially used a poison tablet to stave off Musk’s bid earlier than he charmed his method into their hearts (with cash).

According to the outlet, the billionaire has purportedly retained the agency Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, the identical of us who defended him for calling a cave explorer a “pedo guy” and tweeting that he had the “funding secured” to take Tesla personal.

Jesse Fried, a Harvard Law School professor, instructed Gizmodo on Friday that Musk couldn’t merely stroll away from the deal and was most likely simply making an attempt to decrease the worth.

“Litigation will be costly for Twitter, and it may agree to lower the price to settle the litigation. This is probably Musk’s game plan here,” the professor mentioned.