A viral screenshot claims Tesla CEO Elon Musk suspended billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates' Twitter account, shortly after the announcement of Musk's $44 billion deal to buy the social media platform.
"Damn Elon moves quick," reads an April 25 tweet. It includes a purported image of Gates' Twitter page with a graphic labeling it as suspended.
An April 25 Facebook post of the tweet was shared more than 1,000 times in three days, and a version shared on Twitter garnered over 30,000 likes and 3,000 retweets in a week.
However, the image in the tweet and the Facebook post is fabricated. Musk made no such statement and doesn't yet control the company – and Gates tweeted multiple times after the claim was posted.
USA TODAY reached out to the social media users who shared the claim for comment.
Gates' Twitter account has remained active, even at the time the fake screenshot was posted. He tweeted twice on April 25, at 4:26 p.m. and 6:05 p.m.
Gates' account details such as follower counts, written bio, and profile image, were visible on the fake screenshot. However, Twitter profiles that have been suspended appear to users without those details. The user's Twitter handle remains visible after a suspension, accompanied with the notice: "Account suspended. Twitter suspends accounts that violate the Twitter Rules."
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