Elon Musk says something ‘very strange indeed’ is happening to his Twitter as posts disappear
Your support helps us to tell the story
As your White House correspondent, I ask the tough questions and seek the answers that matter.
Your support enables me to be in the room, pressing for transparency and accountability. Without your contributions, we wouldn't have the resources to challenge those in power.
Your donation makes it possible for us to keep doing this important work, keeping you informed every step of the way to the November election
Andrew Feinberg
White House Correspondent
Elon Musk has suggested there is “something strange” happening with his Twitter account, after his posts failed to load.
Visitors found themselves unable to scroll further back than the last few hours, with older posts refusing to show.
There is no indication that the problem is intentional, rather than a bug on Twitter’s side. But Mr Musk nonetheless chose to highlight the issue in a reply to an account that pointed out the issue.
“Very strange indeed!” Mr Musk wrote in response to a fan who posted a tweet about the problem.
The Twitter user, Steven Mark Ryan, had pointed out that the posts failed to load and that Twitter had no option to report the issue or gain further understanding about why it might be happening.
Twitter did not respond to a request for comment or further information on why Mr Musk’s Twitter page was not loading.
The Independent was able to confirm the bug in practice. Visiting Mr Musk’s account and choosing to see his replies showed only tweets from 15 hours ago, at the time of publication.
Earlier tweets did not load at all – though they were still on Mr Musk’s profile, and showed up when clicking to see only his public tweets and not replies.
Mr Musk has been voicing numerous concerns about Twitter over recent weeks, in the midst of his attempt to buy the company. He has repeatedly suggested that the company’s estimate that only 5 per cent of its users are bots or fake accounts is false, for instance, and that the true number was much higher.
On Tuesday, he did the same, replying to another user who voiced concerns about that number by writing “Yeah, maybe a smidge higher …”.
Mr Musk has said that the takeover deal is on hold until he is given more detail on the estimated number of fake accounts on Twitter.
Analysts have suggested that he could be using the criticism as a way of reducing the asking price for the company, especially amid a broader downturn in technology stocks that has reduced the value of both Twitter and Mr Musk’s own companies.
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments