Twitter faces SEC scrutiny over bot account math – Los Angeles Times

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission recently pressed Twitter for more information on how the company identifies spam accounts, adding to scrutiny — stoked by Elon Musk — over the platform’s processes for keeping tabs on its user base.The SEC’s June 15 query to Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, which was made public Wednesday, centered on statements in the company’s latest annual report. The company has said that spam and bot accounts account for less than 5% of its user base.Twitter is on the defensive this week over how it tracks and keeps tabs on fake accounts after a whistleblower’s complaint alleged that the company didn’t do enough to deal with bot activity on its platform. Although the company has denied those allegations from its former head of security, Peiter Zatko, some legal experts say it could bolster Musk in his attempt to walk away from a $44-billion buyout of the platform.“To the extent material, please disclose the methodology used in calculating these figures and the underlying judgments and assumptions used by management,” the SEC said in its June 15 letter to Agrawal, regarding statements in its annual report.In response, Twitter’s lawyers told the SEC on June 22 that the company…
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