The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) had its eye on Twitter since long before Elon Musk bought the team, but now we have a better idea of the questions it’s been asking of late. Not only have the investigations continued, but the FTC has been looking into the company’s abilities to keep user data safe, the development of the Twitter Blue subscription plan, and gathering information about the actions of the company’s new owner.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal and New York Timesthe Federal Government Select Subcommittee on Armaments, part of the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee, revealed the requests in a new report (PDF), calling the FTC’s actions harassment and overreach.
According to the report, “the FTC has now sent Twitter more than a dozen demand letters since Musk acquired the company.”
The FTC is requesting these details in accordance with a consent order that Twitter first agreed to in 2011 to settle charges of failing to adequately protect user information, then expanded in 2022 to use the security phone numbers of companies. people to target ads. That agreement (PDF) also required Twitter to create and document “a comprehensive information security and privacy program” to protect user information.
According to anonymous sources cited in the NOW According to the report, after the Musk acquisition, it stopped making payments to a company, Collibra, which provided the software used by the various affected teams to help track Twitter compliance.
Last November, before Twitter began its many rounds of layoffs, a lawyer for the company sent a message to Slack saying Musk’s actions put Twitter at risk of “billions” in fines for failing to comply with the executive order. . At the time, Musk followed up with an email saying, “I cannot stress enough that Twitter will do whatever it takes to adhere to both the letter and spirit of the FTC’s consent decree…Everything you read on contrary sense is absolutely false. ”
The information requested included emails, memos, and Slack conversations related to or sent by Elon Musk, messages about the FTC, information about former Twitter deputy general counsel Jim Baker, and details about computer and office equipment sales. Twitter.
The subcommittee’s report also focused on the “Twitter Archives,” a series of reports from writers Musk allowed access to internal messages and information. The FTC requested the names of journalists or other members of the media who were provided access to the company’s Slack records, internal documents or other resources, a request the subcommittee said is inappropriate.
In a statement to the Wall Street JournalFTC spokesman Douglas Farrar said the requests were part of “conducting a rigorous investigation into Twitter’s compliance with a consent order that went into effect long before Musk bought the company.” He said he requested the names of the journalists because, with Twitter under a consent order, the FTC should have access to the same information shared with third parties.
