Former Disney CEO says company didn't buy Twitter due to bot concerns, 'hate speech'

Former Disney CEO Bob Iger said the company opted against buying Twitter due to concerns about the prevalence of bot accounts on the platform and the abundance of "hate speech" it included.

Speaking at the Vox Code Conference in Los Angeles, Iger revealed that a "substantial portion" of Twitter users "were not real," according to the New York Post.

Iger said the company was close to purchasing the platform in 2016 and was considering the company as a distribution mechanism for its foray into streaming rather than as a social media platform.

"It was viewed as sort of a social network," he said. "We were viewing it as something completely different. We could put news, sports, entertainment, [and] reach the world."

Ultimately, however, the company opted against the purchase, in part due to concerns about handling the plethora of charged commentary on the site.

"Then you have to look, of course, at all the hate speech and potential to do as much harm as good," Iger said. "This was just something that we were not ready to take on and I was not ready to take on as the CEO of a company and I thought it would have been irresponsible."

The concerns over bots became an issue for Tesla founder Elon Musk, who backed out of a bid to purchase the platform, citing the company's alleged lack of transparency about the prevalence of bot accounts on the site. Twitter has since sued him to complete the purchase.