Elon Musk sought to engage with the Federal Trade Commission as the agency stepped up an investigation into Twitter’s data and privacy practices, according to documents reviewed by The New York Times, in a sign of the billionaire’s hands-on approach to the investigation.
Musk, the owner of Twitter, requested to meet with Lina Khan, chairwoman of the FTC, but was turned down, according to the documents. Musk made the attempt late last year, a person with knowledge of the matter said. In a January 27 letter declining the meeting, Khan told a Twitter lawyer that she should focus on meeting investigators’ demands for information before considering meeting with Musk.
Musk spoke last month with the FTC’s only Republican commissioner, Christine Wilson, according to an email between agency staff members and two people with knowledge of the matter. Ms Wilson plans to leave the agency on Friday over what she has said are concerns about Ms Khan’s leadership.
Mr. Musk’s outreach to the FTC points to the severity of the agency’s investigation of Twitter. The investigation centers on whether the social media company has adequate resources to protect the privacy of its users after Musk bought it last year and then fired thousands of employees. The agency has separately sought to interview Musk for the investigation; the interview has not taken place, said a person with knowledge of the matter.
It is rare for company CEOs to attempt to meet with the FTC chairman and commissioners while an investigation is underway. But such meetings sometimes occur when executives hope to convince top agency officials that they are committed to keeping their promises to the FTC.
“If I thought I could just brush it off, and it wasn’t a major concern, I would just brush it off,” said William Kovacic, former FTC chairman. “If you think it’s important, that would be a reason to seek a meeting.”
Mr. Musk, Ms. Wilson and an FTC spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment. A press request sent to Twitter triggered an autoresponder email with a poop emoji.
The agency’s investigation builds on a 2011 settlement Twitter reached with the FTC over privacy concerns, which requires the company to maintain a user privacy program. Last May, Twitter paid a $150 million fine for alleged violations of that agreement; At the same time, the FTC expanded the terms of the agreement to prohibit Twitter from using certain data to target ads and required it to offer specific security features.
Peiter Zatko, Twitter’s former head of security, said in a whistleblower complaint made public in August that the company failed to comply with the terms of the 2011 agreement, prompting renewed FTC investigations. The investigation widened after Musk took over Twitter in October and carried out massive layoffs, which were compounded by the resignations of privacy and compliance executives.
Inside Elon Musk’s Twitter
- Source code leak: Parts of the underlying computer code that Twitter runs on have been leaked online, a rare and major exposure of intellectual property.
- Decrease in value: Elon Musk said Twitter is now worth around $20 billion, according to an email he sent to employees, a significant drop from the $44 billion he paid to buy the company in October.
- Music licenses: Twitter is said to have explored licensing music rights to three major record labels before negotiations stalled following Musk’s takeover of the company last year.
- FTC Investigation: The Federal Trade Commission is stepping up an investigation into Twitter’s data and privacy practices and is seeking testimony from Musk.
After Musk requested to meet with Khan, she consulted with the enforcement division within the FTC’s consumer protection office, which has been leading the investigation of Twitter, according to email between agency staff members who describes the situation. Following the advice of the enforcement team, Ms. Khan declined to meet with Mr. Musk at the time.
In Ms. Khan’s January 27 letter to Twitter, she noted that the company was under investigation and had been slow to provide documents to the FTC, delaying depositions with witnesses, including Mr. Musk. She said that she was “concerned about Twitter’s delays and the obstacles these delays are creating for the FTC’s investigation.”
“I recommend that Twitter appropriately prioritize its legal obligations to provide the requested information,” he wrote. “Once Twitter has fully complied with all of the FTC’s requests, I would be happy to consider scheduling a meeting with Mr. Musk.”
Email between agency staff members who discussed Musk’s outreach indicated that he spoke with Ms. Wilson, the Republican commissioner. They were joined on the call by James A. Kohm, the FTC official who oversees investigations into whether companies are honoring their privacy agreements with the agency, according to the email.
Kohm did not respond to emails seeking comment.
Ms Wilson requested copies of the agency’s letters to Twitter demanding information and documents related to its compliance with the privacy agreement, a staffer said in the email.
In February, Ms. Wilson told a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that he would resign from the agency, citing Ms. Khan’s “disregard for the rule of law and due process and the way senior FTC officials empower her.” The conversation with Musk occurred after that op-ed was published, two people with knowledge of the matter said.
Musk has forged relationships with Republicans, who have applauded his vision of a Twitter free of policies that restrict what can be said on the platform. Earlier this year, he met with Rep. Jim Jordan, Republican of Ohio and leader of a subcommittee of the Republican-controlled House Judiciary Committee that focused on “weaponizing” the federal government.
This month, that subcommittee released a report on the FTC’s investigation of Twitter, accusing the agency of “orchestrating an aggressive campaign to harass Twitter.”
David Vladeck, a former director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection who served during the Obama administration, said that speaking with a commissioner who is not the president was “not a smart strategy” for Musk, and that having a conversation with the the agency’s lone Republican might be “more like politics.”
Mr. Musk has previously engaged directly with members of the FTC, Mr. Kovacic said. After a group of aerospace companies announced a planned joint venture to challenge Musk’s rocket company SpaceX, he met with FTC commissioners, including Kovacic, in 2006 to raise concerns about competition.
Mr. Vladeck said the FTC could ultimately penalize Twitter again for privacy violations, potentially much more than its latest $150 million fine.
As the FTC investigation intensified, Musk went ahead with changing some features of the Twitter platform. It plans to remove verification checkmarks, the main way the social network confirms a user’s identity, from notable figures, including celebrities and others, on Saturday if they’re not signed up for Twitter Blue, a subscription service that costs $ 8 per month.
Twitter also plans to charge organizations $1,000 per month to get verified, but will make exceptions for its top 500 advertisers and the top 10,000 most-followed organizations that have been previously verified, according to an internal document seen by The Times. All accounts that purchase checkmarks will be reviewed to make sure they are not impersonating someone, according to the document.
ryan mac contributed reporting. kitty bennett contributed research.
