Elon Musk declares war on spam bots, says he will ‘defeat’ them or ‘die trying’ if his Twitter bid is successful

Even before buying social media giant Twitter, American billionaire Elon Musk has declared a war on spam bots.

The Tesla chief went on to say that if his bid to buy Twitter succeeds then he will authenticate all real humans on the platform. Musk took to his Twitter account to announce his plans to eliminate spam bots from the microblogging site.

"If our twitter bid succeeds, we will defeat the spam bots or die trying," read Musk’s tweet. In another tweet on the thread, he added, “ And authenticate all real humans.”

This is not the first time that the billionaire has expressed his displeasure with bots. Earlier too, Musk had expressed his concerns over crypto bots that were publishing scam posts on Twitter to swindle investors.

At a recent Ted Talk, Musk said that if he had a Dogecoin for every crypto scam he saw on Twitter then he would have 100 billion Dogecoin. "A top priority I would have is eliminating the spam and scam bots and the bot armies that are on Twitter," the SpaceX chief said on the same talk show.
What Are Twitter Bots?
These are automated Twitter accounts controlled by bot software. Bots are programmed to replicate tasks of authentic Twitter users which include following other users, liking, and commenting on posts.

The objective of these bots is to tweet and retweet content for a particular goal which could be to either to increase the follower base or prompt unsuspecting users into clicking a link. According to several reports, Twitter bots have tricked users into making financial transactions via PayPal and Venmo payments.

Bots can be malicious and are known to be used as a method to persuade, bully and incite users. There have been instances where cybercriminals used Twitter bots to spread malware to large groups of Twitter users. These spambots have also been used for influencing elections and propagating political ideologies.

Funding For Twitter Bid
As of now, the American billionaire has so far secured a funding commitment of USD 46.5 billion to buy Twitter Inc. Musk is also planning to start a tender offer for Twitter’s shares, revealed filing with US regulators. The billionaire has committed to putting USD 33.5 billion which will include USD 21 billion of equity and USD 12.5 billion in margin loans.