A manager fired from Twitter accused the company of understating data about bots.

Former Twitter security chief Peter Zatko, the legendary Mudge hacker, has accused Twitter of covering up serious security issues and underreporting the number of fake accounts. These allegations could seriously hamper Twitter's litigation with Elon Musk. The billionaire's lawyer has already announced that Zatko has been subpoenaed. Twitter shares are down more than 7%.

What's happened

Fired earlier this year, Zatko filed a complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission in July, writes The Washington Post. In it, he said that he "identified the exceptional, flagrant violations committed by Twitter in every area for which he was responsible," including data privacy, digital and physical security, and content moderation.

In particular, Zatko claims that top managers, including CEO Parag Agrawala, deliberately underestimate the presence of spam on the platform. According to him, the company uses an incorrect method of counting the number of bots and fake accounts, which gives distorted results, and it is more profitable for management to inflate the number of real users than to take measures to remove bots.

Why is it important

It was the number of fake Twitter accounts that Elon Musk called the reason for refusing to buy a microblogging network. The social network assures that the share of bots on the platform does not exceed 5%. The billionaire considers these figures to be underestimated four times. After Musk refused to buy Twitter, the company sued him to enforce his agreements and oblige him to buy the social network for $44 billion. Hearings in the case are due to begin in the Delaware Court of Chancery on October 17 and last five days.

Serious allegations made by Zatko against Twitter could give Musk a significant advantage in the lawsuit, notes The Wall Street Journal . The billionaire's lawyer said that the hacker has already been subpoenaed. A Twitter spokeswoman said Zatko was fired for "poor leadership and poor performance" and that his complaint was "rife with inconsistencies and inaccuracies and lacks important details." Shares of Twitter on this news, however, have already fallen by 7.3% - to a minimum in a month.