In context: Elon Musk’s time at Twitter has been stuffed with controversy, from the mass layoffs to the Twitter Blue saga. His choices have caught the curiosity of the Federal Commerce Fee, which is demanding the corporate flip over inside communications and is looking for to depose Twitter’s billionaire proprietor.
The Wall Avenue Journal reports that the FTC has despatched 12 letters to Twitter and its legal professionals since Musk took over on October 27. The crux of the matter pertains to the FTC’s $150 million fine it handed Twitter final 12 months over misleading advert practices that used e mail addresses and telephone numbers submitted for account safety functions, equivalent to two-factor authentication, for focused advertisements. A part of that settlement included a assure from Twitter to guard customers’ privateness by way of a “complete privateness and data safety program.”
In November, the WSJ reported that Musk advised Twitter workers the corporate will do no matter it takes to comply with each the letter and the spirit of the FTC order.
A shameful case of weaponization of a authorities company for political functions and suppression of the reality!
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 7, 2023
The FTC is anxious that Musk’s determination to lay off greater than half of Twitter’s employees, together with privateness and safety chiefs, might have an effect on customers’ security, violating the phrases of the FTC settlement. “We’re involved these employees reductions influence Twitter’s capacity to guard shoppers’ data,” an company official wrote to Twitter’s legal professionals.
The FTC has additionally requested Twitter to “determine all journalists” granted entry to firm data. A part of Twitter’s settlement limits inside entry to consumer knowledge, so giving journalists entry to inside Twitter methods was possible a settlement violation. These incidents had been Musk revealing the so-called “Twitter Information,” or inside data associated to the corporate’s earlier moderation course of.
Moreover, the FTC has requested details about the launch of the revamped Twitter Blue subscription service, which one worker said disregarded the corporate’s regular privateness and safety evaluation. The FTC additionally needs to depose Musk in reference to its investigation.
Republican members of the Home Judiciary Committee have accused the FTC of overstepping its authority. “There isn’t any logical cause, for instance, why the FTC must know the identities of journalists partaking with Twitter,” reads the Judiciary panel’s report. “There isn’t any logical cause why the FTC, on the premise of consumer privateness, wants to investigate all of Twitter’s personnel choices. And there’s no logical cause why the FTC wants each single inside Twitter communication about Elon Musk.”
Musk responded to the WSJ report with a tweet calling it “a shameful case of weaponization of a authorities company for political functions and suppression of the reality!”
