‘Completely False’: Reporter Rebuts Elon Musk’s Attack on Brutal Article Detailing Internal Turmoil at Twitter

AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File

Twitter owner and CEO Elon Musk declared “fake news” this week over reports he boosted his own tweets only to have the finger pointed right back at him declaring his statements to be false.

In a Friday tweet, Musk dismissed media reports about him having his staff working to boost his tweets around the Super Bowl. Musk called the original Platformer report “bogus” and claimed the source was a “disgruntled employee.”

Platformer journalist Casey Newton pushed back on Musk, calling his tweet “completely false.”

According to the Platformer report, Musk was displeased with the fact that a tweet from President Joe Biden about the Super Bowl received more impressions on Twitter than his own on the game. In his statement about the alleged “disgruntled employee,” Musk claimed a “bug” was fixed in the system that was briefly prioritizing reply tweets like normal tweets.

“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,” he tweeted.

Musk didn’t seem entirely upset over the Platformer report, replying to one user by saying the constant reporting on him has only boosted Twitter’s numbers.

“On the plus side, their constant reporting about me on Twitter has driven usage to record levels,” he wrote.

Musk said he plans on taking legal action against the alleged “disgruntled employee” acting as a source for Platformer, though he did not name the employee.