Musk challenges Twitter CEO to public debate on bots

(Reuters) - Elon Musk on Saturday challenged Twitter Inc Chief Executive Officer Parag Agrawal to a public debate about the percentage of bots on the social media platform.

"Let him prove to the public that Twitter has <5% fake or spam daily users!," Musk said in a tweet.

He also started a poll asking users whether less than 5% of Twitter daily users are fake/spam.

Twitter on Thursday dismissed a claim by Musk that he was hoodwinked into signing a $44 billion agreement to buy the company.

Musk filed a countersuit against Twitter on July 29, escalating his legal fight against the company over his bid to walk away from the purchase agreement.

Earlier on Saturday, Musk said that if Twitter could provide its method of sampling 100 accounts and how it confirmed that the accounts are real, his deal to buy the company should proceed on its original terms.

(Reporting by Maria Ponnezhath in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Ira Iosebashvili; Editing by Daniel Wallis)