A couple of weeks ago, Elon Musk shocked the world when he put forth his $44-billion offer to buy Twitter. However, it seems as though the plan to purchase the social media company has hit a significant roadblock.

Musk tweeted that a deal cannot move forward” without “proof” for a fake account estimate earlier revealed by the company. 

“20% fake/spam accounts, while four times what Twitter claims, could be [much] higher,” Musk said. “My offer was based on Twitter’s SEC filings being accurate. Yesterday, Twitter’s CEO publicly refused to show proof of <5%. This deal cannot move forward until he does.”

There’s no clear direction where the deal goes from here. However, during an appearance on the latest episode of The Interview, New York Times report Kara Swisher predicted that Musk might have to step back and reconsider his initial offer. 

“He should walk away, pay the billion-dollar breakup fee and then wait until it declines. He could pick it up for $15 billion versus $45 billion. That’s a nice savings. There’s a lot you can do with $30 billion,” Swisher said. 

Now Musk might not walk entirely away from the attempt to buy Twitter; nonetheless, that might take more time than initially, some might have hoped. 

Elon Musk made headlines a couple of weeks ago with his decision to purchase Twitter for $44-billion; however, New York Times reporter Kara Swisher stated on the latest episode of The Interview that the Tesla CEO is having second thoughts. 

“He has to be. This price is too high,” Swisher said. “[Twitter] is not worth $54 a share. It’s crazy. It’s like throwing money down a hole.”

Swisher does believe a deal will occur with Twitter seeing Musk as its new owner despite these claims. However, she thinks the entrepreneur might have another idea: reprice the bid.

“He should walk away, pay the billion-dollar breakup fee and then wait until it declines. He could pick it up for $15 billion versus $45 billion. That’s a nice savings. There’s a lot you can do with $30 billion,” Swisher said. 

Walking away from the deal for the social media company might not be easy. But, either way, Musk is undoubtedly taking a hard look at his bid of $54.20 per share by what Swisher is conveying, wrapping up that her relationship with the possible new owner of Twitter as an “up and down” one.

“We’ve had beefs,” Swisher said. “He hasn’t returned my emails. He usually does. He’s talking to right-wing people. He’s friends with Mike Cernovich. Good for him. He’s making new friends. I don’t care. I have four children; I don’t need Elon Musk.”

Texas lawmakers have put Big Tech on notice following a ruling last week that makes it illegal to block, ban, remove, deplatform, demonetize, and de-boost posts on social media platforms with 50 million or more US monthly users.

The 15-word ruling will most likely set the stage for an intense debate in the Supreme Court and could further divide a nation struggling to interpret free speech and the First Amendment.

According to MSN, Texas’s law, HB 20, which seeks to address the perceived imbalance, was blocked in December by a district court judge who ruled it was unconstitutional under the First Amendment.

Trade organizations NetChoice and the Computer Communications Industry Association have appealed directly to the Supreme Court, according to The Verge. In a statement, NetChoice counsel Chris Marchese said the law strips private online businesses of their speech rights.

“The First Amendment prohibits Texas from forcing online platforms to host and promote foreign propaganda, pornography, pro-Nazi speech, and spam,” he added.

The Texas attorney general’s that the appeals court made the right decision and said it would continue defending the Texas law.