Elon Musk was found to have almost breached a federal privacy order after taking over Twitter in 2022. The breach was averted by the company’s data security team, according to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission or FTC.
What Happened: Musk, who rebranded Twitter as X, was on the brink of violating a federal privacy order, the FTC concluded. This was revealed in a letter sent by FTC Chair Lina Khan to House Republicans on Wednesday, reported Bloomberg.
The letter acknowledged the efforts of Twitter’s data security team in preventing the breach, especially in light of the company’s history of privacy and security lapses.
"FTC staff efforts to ensure Twitter was in compliance with the order were appropriate and necessary, especially considering Twitter's history of privacy and security lapses," Khan said in the letter.
The latest communication from the agency did not disclose the identities of the employees who participated in the investigation. However, segments from their sworn interviews were submitted in federal court documents.
The agency has been attempting to depose Musk since June of last year, prompting the company to file a lawsuit in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the agency’s interrogation.
Despite the ongoing probe, the FTC has been at odds with House Republicans over Musk. The GOP has accused the agency of targeting the company since Musk’s takeover.
The FTC has been particularly interested in the “Twitter Files,” a series of stories by selected journalists that revealed internal discussions about the removal of former President Donald Trump from the platform after the Jan. 6 riot.
The FTC will continue to monitor Twitter’s compliance with the consent order and is pursuing litigation to depose Musk.
Why It Matters: Musk’s leadership at X has been a subject of scrutiny. Since acquiring the social media company in October 2022, the tech billionaire initiated new protocols and terminated personnel, resulting in approximately two-thirds of the workforce departing the company.
These modifications caused concern among the company’s former senior privacy officials, as revealed in sworn interviews with the FTC. They were apprehensive that Musk’s directives could potentially result in violations of a federal privacy settlement reached in May 2022, the report noted.
Andrew Sayler, former director of security engineering at the company, informed FTC investigators that Musk’s directives to grant journalists unrestricted access to Twitter’s systems demonstrated a “disregard for the overall sensitivity and security” of the company’s systems.
Furthermore, Sayler, who departed the company in December 2022, highlighted Musk’s disregard for warnings from the security team regarding potential impersonations resulting from paid verification.
X, formerly Twitter’s, value reportedly plummeted to less than half of its purchase price in October 2023, possibly due to concerns about content-safety rules on the platform.
However, Fidelity raised the valuation of X in early 2024, implying a valuation of around $14.1 billion from them.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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