Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter, is under closer scrutiny as the FTC requests his internal communications and documentation pertaining to the budget cuts that have been made in the past and are now being made.
FTC Demands
Since Elon Musk took over the company, Twitter’s headcount has shrunk as a result of multiple layoffs that have taken place in recent months. The Federal Trade Commission is concerned that, as a result of budget cuts and ongoing layoffs, the corporation may not be able to secure consumers’ privacy.
The Wall Street Journal stated that the FTC is now requesting Twitter to turn over internal communications, including emails and papers linked to Musk, including specific information regarding the employee reduction, due to worries that layoffs could jeopardise platform users’ safety.
Also, the FTC is requesting information from the business on Twitter Blue as well as the names of all journalists who have been given “Twitter Files” access to company records. Finally, the agency seeks to have Musk testify in relation to the investigation. This inquiry is being overseen by FTC Chairperson and Democrat Lina Khan.
According to company spokeswoman Douglas Farrar, the company wants to safeguard users’ privacy on the platform because that is what the FTC is tasked with doing. The government is “doing a comprehensive inquiry into Twitter’s compliance with a consent order that was issued before Mr. Musk bought the business,” he added.
Criticisms Towards FTC
This initiative resulted from the dozen letters the FTC has written to Twitter since Musk took over the company last year. The letters from the agency express many worries about the company’s capacity to uphold the $150 million deal that it signed with the agency in May.
The FTC stated in November that the 2022 settlement provided the organisation with additional instruments to ensure compliance and that they were ready to use them appropriately. No CEO or company is above the law, the agency added.
The letters have now been retrieved, and the House Judiciary Committee released extracts of them last Tuesday during a staff report that, according to Gizmodo, is quite scathing of the FTC’s inquiry. The committee then makes assertions about the FTC’s requests and accuses it of going too far.
“There is no logical justification for the FTC to review all of Twitter’s hiring decisions on the basis of user privacy. Yet there is no logical reason why the FTC needs a copy of every internal Twitter message about Elon Musk, according to a recent report from the committee.
According to the consent decree it signed with the FTC in 2011 and its most recent extension in 2022, Twitter is obligated to carry out routine audits and keep the agency informed about how the firm handles data.
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