FTC demands names of all ‘Twitter files’ journalists as part of broader probe into Elon Musk

The Federal Trade Commission is asking Twitter to identify all journalists involved in the release of the “Twitter Files”, among an extensive list of demands issued following Elon Musk’s takeover of its platform. .

The FTC also provided more than 350 specific details behind Musk’s dismissal of former FBI agent Jim Baker, internal communications “related to Elon Musk,” and the newly established account subscription model. He is asking Mr. Musk to hand it over to him on his formal demand list. In twelve letters dating back to November of last year.

The commission also requested details behind the company’s job cuts, citing concerns that job cuts could compromise the company’s ability to protect users’ personal data.

The letter was revealed in a 113-page report released Tuesday by the House Judiciary Committee and the Special Subcommittee on Weaponization of the Federal Government, which went too far on behalf of the FTC, calling it “Elon Musk’s Twitter harassment.” Do” campaign.

The lawmaker behind the report said the request “appears to be the result of partisan pressure to target Twitter to silence Musk, rather than based on the FTC’s statutory mandate.” increase.

“The timing, scope and frequency of the FTC’s requests to Twitter suggest partisan motives for its actions,” the report states. “A strong inference from these facts is that Twitter’s rediscovered focus on free speech faces political motives to thwart Elon Musk’s goals. The harassment is likely due to one fact: Musk’s self-proclaimed “absolutist” commitment to freedom of expression in Digital Town Square.

FTC Chairman Linda Kahn has said the company’s wide-ranging commitments after Twitter agreed to pay a $150 million fine in 2022 to settle a federal privacy lawsuit that arose before Musk’s acquisition. promised to keep a watchful eye.

The FTC said in November that the order accompanying the settlement provided “new tools to ensure compliance.”

“Protecting consumer privacy is exactly what the FTC should be doing,” an FTC spokesperson said in response to the report on Tuesday.

“It’s not surprising that the Commission’s careers staff is conducting a rigorous review of Twitter’s compliance with a consent order that went into effect long before Mr. Musk acquired the company,” the spokesperson said.

The commission, led by Ohio Republican Rep. Jim Jordan, reported Tuesday ahead of a Weaponization Commission hearing featuring testimony from two journalists who released some of the company’s internal documents. issued a book.

Independent journalists Matt Taibi and Michael Shellenberger, who have been granted access to Mr. Musk’s vault, will testify at a second hearing scheduled for Thursday.

Taibi revealed in December that the FBI worked with Twitter executives to control content on the platform.

Those efforts included weekly meetings with Twitter executives before the company hid the now infamous New York Post 2020 report on Hunter Biden’s laptop computer. .

At those meetings, which included officials from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Homeland Security, Twitter executives were cued by rumors that Mr. Biden would be targeted in a “hacking and leaking operation.”

The Post’s report, which ran on October 14, 2020, sparked an avalanche of embarrassing emails, photos, and text messages pulled from laptop computers. It revealed details about Mr. Biden’s battle with addiction and his hugely profitable overseas business deals that critics say are like influence peddlers.

The email also refuted claims that President Biden never spoke to his son about his overseas business dealings.

Biden’s campaign branded the now-certified laptops as Russian disinformation, citing allegations pitched in open letters by more than 50 former US intelligence officials.

The constant drip of internal documents also revealed Twitter’s left-wing tendencies that led to its censorship of conservative views and its unprecedented decision to ban then-President Donald Trump from the platform.

The Twitter file caused a stir on Capitol Hill.

Republicans on the House Oversight Committee last month said former Twitter chief legal officer Vijaya Gadde, former deputy general counsel James, during a hearing focused on their decision to suppress the New York Post article. Baker severely interrogated former trust and safety officer Yoel Roth.

Executives told lawmakers they made a mistake censoring the laptop article, but dismissed accusations that they were instructed to do so by the federal government.

Mr Jordan caught witnesses who they dismissed concerns that the government was involved. He noted that the FBI held weekly meetings with Twitter executives before the company suppressed his The Post report.

Jordan later issued a subpoena against the chief executive of Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms and Google’s parent company, Alphabet. Microsoft; Apple; and Amazon.com surrender all communications between companies and the federal government related to the moderation or suppression of content.