Elon Musk’s $64.1 billion buyout of Twitter will be “terrific” for Australian businesses if the billionaire can make good on his promises to open up Twitter’s algorithms and close down bots operating on the platform, the former chairman of Australia’s competition watchdog said.

Rod Sims, who retired from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in March after almost 11 years at the helm, said Mr Musk’s commitment to rooting out bots on Twitter, and ensuring that all users are who they say they are, could be “very helpful” for limiting disinformation on the social media platform, and for ensuring that advertisers get what they’re paying for.