Explainer-in-brief: Behind a Twitter takeover that looks like a soap opera

When Elon Musk decided to buy Twitter, the Internet went crazy. Some were celebrating the billionaire’s penchant for protecting free speech, others were scared that Twitter would turn into a hate speech nightmare.

Now the saga has taken a different turn, with Musk being sued by Twitter investors for driving down the share price of the platform.

Musk is accused of manipulating the market to try to cut the cost of the £35bn takeover. After accepting the deal, Musk briskly put it on hold claiming to be worried by the amount of fake accounts and bots on the platform. It’s hard to believe he wasn’t aware of the issue – pretty much every Twitter user is, and Musk is an avid one.

“The bots are angry at being counted”, Musk tweeted this month – adding a cry-laughing emoji. The other Twitter investors are probably not laughing at all.