Twitter/X staff ignored Elon Musk's orders, prevented an FTC violation

  • Twitter/X owner Elon Musk gave orders that would have violated an FTC consent decree on privacy and security.
  • The only reason Twitter/X remained in compliance was because its staff disobeyed Musk.
  • Musk ordered Twitter/X staff to give several external writers complete access to the company’s internal documents and systems.
  • This would have allowed them to view Twitter/X users’ personal information, violating the FTC order to protect such data.
  • Twitter/X’s staff decided to ignore Musk and implemented safeguards to mitigate the risks.
  • Staff still gave the writers enough information for them to create the Twitter Files, but did not provide unlimited access to the company’s systems and data.
  • If staff had followed Musk’s orders, Twitter/X would likely be facing expensive consequences now.
  • The social media platform was previously fined $150 million in May 2022 after violating the FTC’s agreement, having used users’ personal information to sell advertising rather than strictly for security purposes.

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