FACT CHECK: Did Elon Musk vow to buy Snapchat?

A tweet circulating on social media purportedly from the account of Twitter Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk, claims that he will buy Snapchat and delete all filters. Snapchat is a multimedia app that can be used on smartphones running Android or iOS. It allows one to send pictures or videos, named “Snaps,” to friends. These […]

A tweet circulating on social media purportedly from the account of Twitter Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk, claims that he will buy Snapchat and delete all filters.

Snapchat is a multimedia app that can be used on smartphones running Android or iOS.

It allows one to send pictures or videos, named “Snaps,” to friends.

These Snaps vanish after they’ve been viewed. The platform also offers a function, similar to instant messaging services like WhatsApp.

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Claim

The tweet which came from a Twitter handle @elonmusk reads: “Next I’am buying Snapchat and deleting all the filters. Welcome back to reality, ladies.”

The tweet so far garnered over 226,000 retweets, 45,000 quote tweets and 1.6 million likes.

Verdict

False.

Verification

In verifying the Tweet, Daily Trust went through Musk’s twitter handle to check if he indeed tweeted but could not see anything of such.

This means that the tweet must have come from a parody or cloned account.

Checks by Daily Trust showed that Musk has been constantly tweeting on different issues, most recent was a poll which he initiated asking people to vote for the reinstatement of a former United States President, Donald Trump, to Twitter.

However, at no time did he mention buying Snapchat or even deleting filters.

Conclusion:

Following verification by Daily Trust, it was clear that the tweet of buying and deleting Snapchat filters did not emanate from Elon Musk. As such, the Twitter CEO’s account must have been cloned.

This Fact Check is produced in partnership with the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD)