The FTC makes demands of Twitter
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The FTC sent over a dozen demand letters to Twitter that make more than 350 specific demands of Twitter.
The FTC has demanded that Twitter provide, among other things:
“Information relating to journalists’ work protected by the First Amendment, including their work to expose abuses by Big Tech and the federal government;
“Every single internal communication ‘relating to Elon Musk,’ by any Twitter personnel—including communications sent or received by Musk—not limited by subject matter, since the day Musk bought the company;“Information about whether Twitter is ‘selling its office equipment’;
“All of the reasons why Twitter terminated former Twitter employee and FBI official Jim Baker;
“When Twitter ‘first conceived of the concept for Twitter Blue,’ Twitter’s new $8/month verified account subscription; and
“Information disaggregated by ‘each department, division, and/or team,’ regardless of whether the work done by these units had anything to do with privacy or information security.”
There might be some more context, I suppose, but "selling office equipment" is on of the FTC's concerns?
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Seems to be pertaining to a data privacy settlement Twitter entered into with the FTC after those data security whistleblower allegations last summer. All the questions make sense in that context.
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@jon-nyc said in The FTC makes demands of Twitter:
All the questions make sense in that context.
Why Baker was fired?
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Seems to be pertaining to a data privacy settlement Twitter entered into with the FTC after those data security whistleblower allegations last summer. All the questions make sense in that context.
@jon-nyc said in The FTC makes demands of Twitter:
Seems to be pertaining to a data privacy settlement Twitter entered into with the FTC after those data security whistleblower allegations last summer. All the questions make sense in that context.
The WSJ article:https://www.wsj.com/articles/twitter-investigation-ftc-musk-documents-db6b179e
The Federal Trade Commission has demanded Twitter Inc. turn over internal communications related to owner Elon Musk, as well as detailed information about layoffs—citing concerns that staff reductions could compromise the company’s ability to protect users, documents viewed by the Wall Street Journal show.
The FTC is also seeking to depose Mr. Musk in connection with the probe.
“We are concerned these staff reductions impact Twitter’s ability to protect consumers’ information,” an FTC official wrote to Twitter’s lawyers on Nov. 10 following an initial wave of layoffs, according to a copy of the letter viewed by the Journal.
The so-called demand letters were obtained by the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee, which published excerpts of them Tuesday in a staff report about the FTC’s investigation.
The letters indicate Twitter responded to the FTC, but that the agency as of late January felt the company was engaging in a “troubling pattern of ongoing delay” that raises “serious concerns about its compliance.”
“Protecting consumers’ privacy is exactly what the FTC is supposed to do,” said FTC spokesman Douglas Farrar. He said the agency is “conducting a rigorous investigation into Twitter’s compliance with a consent order that came into effect long before Mr. Musk purchased the company.”
The FTC routinely seeks information that companies under a consent order provide third parties, including journalists, on grounds that the company couldn’t withhold that same information from the FTC, Mr. Farrar said.
Twitter didn’t respond to requests for comment.
The inquiries by the FTC, which is led by Democrat Lina Khan, follow massive layoffs implemented by Mr. Musk that have raised concerns within the agency about the ability of the company to comply with a $150 million settlement related to alleged privacy violations.
The FTC letters, which date from Nov. 10 through Feb. 1, asked Twitter to quantify the number of layoffs and resignations across its departments. The agency sought a detailed accounting of the responsibilities of new executives, including who would be overseeing privacy and security matters.
One letter pressed for an explanation of the departure of Jim Baker, the former Justice Department official who until December was a senior Twitter lawyer with responsibilities for ensuring compliance with the FTC order.
The FTC also asked for all internal Twitter communications “related to Elon Musk,” or sent “at the direction of, or received by” Mr. Musk.