AFP
AFP published this article:
Twitter notched an early win Tuesday in its fight with Elon Musk, after a judge agreed to a fast-track trial on whether to force the Tesla chief to complete his $44 billion buyout of the social network.
Musk's lawyers had pushed for a February 2023 date, but the court in the eastern US state of Delaware hewed closely to the uncertainty-wracked platform's desire for speed and set an October start.
Billions of dollars are at stake, but so is the future of Twitter, which Musk has said should allow any legal speech -- an absolutist position that has sparked fears the network could be used to incite violence.
Judge Kathaleen McCormick, who set a five-day trial and left the sides to work with the court to fix the exact date, noted that the "risk of irreparable harm" generally grows the longer a merger remains in limbo.
Musk's team argued fiercely against an relatively quick date, saying the core issues are simply too complex.
"Billions of actions on their platform have to be analyzed in order for us to get to the bottom of the real issue," said Musk lawyer Andrew Rossman.
"The real issue here is what's the percentage of real users on the Twitter platform versus spam or false accounts," he added.
After pausing the deal in May, Musk moved in early July to "terminate" his unsolicited buyout bid after he accused the platform of misleading him on the number of its so-called "bot" accounts, and not being forthcoming with details.
Twitter has argued his claims are simply an effort by him to back out of the deal, and its lawyer William Savitt said "the continued uncertainty caused by Musk's purported termination inflicts harm on Twitter every day, every hour of every day."
Experts watching the trial saw the relatively rapid timeline as a triumph for the social network, which is limping along while the buyout endgame remains unclear.
"I think it was pretty favorable for Twitter. She didn't give them exactly what they wanted, but she gave them a pretty speedy trial," said Adam Badawi, a University of California at Berkeley law professor.
The social network's lawyers had asked for a September date, just months after Musk launched a bid that the company's board initially resisted but then supported.
The world's richest person has backed away from the deal in recent months as tech stocks have tumbled, and Twitter's value has fallen well below the $54.20 per share he offered.
Twitter notched an early win Tuesday in its fight with Elon Musk, after a judge agreed to a fast-track trial on whether to force the Tesla chief to complete his $44 billion buyout of the social network.
Musk's lawyers had pushed for a February 2023 date, but the court in the eastern US state of Delaware hewed closely to the uncertainty-wracked platform's desire for speed and set an October start.
Billions of dollars are at stake, but so is the future of Twitter, which Musk has said should allow any legal speech -- an absolutist position that has sparked fears the network could be used to incite violence.
Judge Kathaleen McCormick, who set a five-day trial and left the sides to work with the court to fix the exact date, noted that the "risk of irreparable harm" generally grows the longer a merger remains in limbo.
Musk's team argued fiercely against an relatively quick date, saying the core issues are simply too complex.
"Billions of actions on their platform have to be analyzed in order for us to get to the bottom of the real issue," said Musk lawyer Andrew Rossman.
"The real issue here is what's the percentage of real users on the Twitter platform versus spam or false accounts," he added.
After pausing the deal in May, Musk moved in early July to "terminate" his unsolicited buyout bid after he accused the platform of misleading him on the number of its so-called "bot" accounts, and not being forthcoming with details.
Twitter has argued his claims are simply an effort by him to back out of the deal, and its lawyer William Savitt said "the continued uncertainty caused by Musk's purported termination inflicts harm on Twitter every day, every hour of every day."
Experts watching the trial saw the relatively rapid timeline as a triumph for the social network, which is limping along while the buyout endgame remains unclear.
"I think it was pretty favorable for Twitter. She didn't give them exactly what they wanted, but she gave them a pretty speedy trial," said Adam Badawi, a University of California at Berkeley law professor.
The social network's lawyers had asked for a September date, just months after Musk launched a bid that the company's board initially resisted but then supported.
The world's richest person has backed away from the deal in recent months as tech stocks have tumbled, and Twitter's value has fallen well below the $54.20 per share he offered.
