Your trusted source

Twitter is suing billionaire Elon Musk to try to force him to buy the social media firm, setting up a legal battle with the world's richest man, BBC News reports.

It comes after Mr Musk announced he was walking away from his proposed $44bn (£37bn) takeover of Twitter on Friday.

He claimed Twitter had not given information about the number of fake and spam accounts on the platform.

Now Twitter has asked a Delaware court to order Mr Musk to complete the merger at the agreed $54.20 per Twitter share.

"Having mounted a public spectacle to put Twitter in play, and having proposed and then signed a seller-friendly merger agreement, [Mr] Musk apparently believes that he - unlike every other party subject to Delaware contract law - is free to change his mind, trash the company, disrupt its operations, destroy stockholder value, and walk away," said the lawsuit.

The lawsuit went on to accuse Mr Musk of "a long list" of violations of the merger agreement that "have cast a pall over Twitter and its business".

Twitter chairman Bret Taylor tweeted that the microblogging site wanted "to hold Elon Musk accountable to his contractual obligations".

Twitter's share price has fallen more than 8% in the past month, and in May tumbled from highs of more than $50 per share, as Mr Musk questioned the number of fake and spam accounts on Twitter and said the deal was "temporarily on hold".