Elon applies force to his bid:

In the midst of his deal to acquire Twitter, Elon Musk has called on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to look into the social network’s user numbers.

Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, wrote in an informal Twitter poll on Tuesday, “Twitter claims that >95% of daily active users are real, unique humans. Does anyone have that experience?” He then said, in response to a follower, who suggested the SEC begin an investigation, “Hello @SECGov, anyone home?”

This could unravel a lot more than Twitter, as Twitter is representative of many big-tech stocks, whose business models are represented by easily manipulatable digital numbers, supposedly representative of ephemeral effects on consumer perceptions, and by extension, actions. In a world where the modern power arises from individual perceptions, it is not surprising there would be many seeking to create a perception they can create perceptions. If that artifice is punctured once, the ripples will rapidly spread to all similar business models. That could lead to massive investigations, and a collapse of the influence sector.

From Social Media to online advertising, the only tech stocks which would remain unaffected might be those with hard sales numbers to represent users.