US social media giant Twitter is reportedly going to finally meet would-be acquirer Elon Musk’s demands for more data, but it might not be quite what he has in mind.

We know this because the Washington Post has had one of its Deep Throats whispering in its ear again. This Twitter insider told the WaPo the social media company plans to comply with Musk’s demands for access to a massive trove of data referred to at a ‘firehose’. The move seems to be in direct response to Musk’s thinly-veiled threat at the start of this week to abandon the deal if he isn’t granted access to this data.

Musk doesn’t seem to have publicly responded to the scoop so it’s not yet clear that this is the data he requires. Since the firehose is apparently already available to anyone prepared to pay for it, you would have to assume he had something else in mind, especially since he’s not short of a bob or two. Many Twitter commentators share that scepticism.

It’s hard to escape the feeling that Twitter and Musk are still playing games with each other. The Twitter board initially resisted Musk’s acquisition bid but now it seems keen to ensure he can’t wriggle out of it. This WaPo story feels like a trial balloon went up by Twitter to see how Musk responds to the firehose proposition. Since there’s no guarantee it will provide the level of user transparency Musk desires, expect some kind of oblique and snarky push-back from him via that very platform before long.

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