The Federal Trade Commission is asking Twitter to hand over internal communications related to its owner, Elon Musk, as well as details of layoffs and the names of journalists who have accessed the tweeters’ information.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, FOMC guidance documents have shown 12 Twitter messages since Musk’s acquisition of the platform demanding the identification of all journalists who have been given access to the company’s records and information about the launch of an updated blue tag service. .
The documents also revealed that a committee spokesman sent a letter to Musk’s lawyer on Nov. 10 (2022) after the first wave of employee layoffs, expressing concerns about the impact on Twitter’s ability to protect user information.
Twitter dodging
Wall Street has received so-called letters of demand from the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee, excerpts from which were released Tuesday in a task force report on the FTC’s investigation.
The letters indicated that Twitter had responded to the FTC, but as of late January, the agency believed the company was engaging in a “worrisome pattern of persistent delays” that raised “serious concerns about its compliance.”
In turn, Douglas Farrar, a spokesman for the Federal Trade Commission, said: “Protecting user privacy is exactly what the FTC should be doing.”
He added that the agency is “undertaking a thorough investigation into Twitter’s compliance with a consent order that went into effect long before Musk bought the company.”
He also noted that the commission regularly requested information about companies providing information to third parties, including journalists, based on the principle that a company cannot hide the same information from the trade commission.
Federal.
Judicial Committee disagrees
On the other hand, the Judiciary Committee’s report accuses the Federal Trade Commission of exceeding its authority and states that “there is no logical reason to request information about the identity of journalists who deal with Twitter.”
On Dec. 13, the FTC questioned Twitter’s decision to give reporters access to the company’s internal communications, a project Musk called “Twitter Files” that he says sheds light on controversial decisions made by the previous administration.
The agency asked Twitter to describe “the nature of the access granted to each individual” and how providing such access is “consistent with its privacy and information security obligations under the order.”
I also asked whether Twitter conducted background checks on journalists and whether they had access to Twitter users’ private messages.
It is indicated that if the FTC concludes that Twitter has violated the 2022 order, the agency may request financial sanctions, trade restrictions, or sanctions against responsible executives.
