Elon Musk has undermined Twitter’s integrity: US lawmakers urge antitrust probe

The US lawmakers claimed that Twitter’s new Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk, has taken alarming steps which have undermined the integrity and security of the platform and have urged a probe.

New Delhi,UPDATED: Nov 18, 2022 08:46 IST

An picture of Elon Musk is seen on a smartphone positioned on printed Twitter logos on this image illustration. (Photo: Reuters)

By India Today Web Desk: Seven Democratic senators have accused Elon Musk, who’s now the proprietor of Twitter, of disregarding customers’ rights and have urged the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to probe his dealing with of customers’ privateness and safety. Senators have said that Musk has ‘undermined the integrity and security of the platform’, information company Reuters reported. The US lawmakers claimed that Twitter’s new Chief Executive Officer, has taken alarming steps which have undermined the integrity and security of the platform.

The Democratic lawmakers have referred to as for the patron safety regulator to ‘vigorously oversee’ its 2011 consent decree with Twitter. Senators Richard Blumenthal and Elizabeth Warren have requested that the federal government take into account taking enforcement steps in opposition to the enterprise and, as vital, particular executives.

‘ANNOUNCED NEW FEATURES DESPITE WARNINGS’

The lawmakers of their letter to the FTC wrote that ever since Musk took over Twitter a number of weeks in the past, the platform was displaying ‘critical, wildful disregard for the protection and safety of its customers’. US Senators of their letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan wrote, “In recent weeks, Twitter’s new Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk, has taken alarming steps that have undermined the integrity and safety of the platform, and announced new features despite clear warnings those changes would be abused for fraud, scams, and dangerous impersonation.”

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Asking the FTC to analyze Musk and different executives’ actions, the US lawmakers wrote, “We urge the Commission to vigorously oversee its consent decree with Twitter and to bring enforcement actions against any breached or business practices that are unfair or deceptive, including bringing civil penalties and imposing liability on individual Twitter executives where appropriate.”

The letter additionally identified the current layoffs and resignations which have hit the corporate since Musk took over Twitter final month. They claimed that Musk has solely prioritised rising earnings whereas disregarding different key facets of the corporate.

TRACKING RECENT DEVELOPMENTS, SAYS FTC

The FTC is but to touch upon the matter and it said that it was ‘monitoring current developments at Twitter with deep concern’, the Financial Times mentioned in a report. Notably, after the blockbuster takeover of Twitter, Elon Musk introduced quite a lot of important adjustments, fired Twitter’s earlier CEO and different senior leaders and laid off half of its employees.

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There have been worries that the turmoil could trigger Twitter to interrupt the phrases of a May 2022 settlement with the American regulator, when Twitter agreed to boost its privateness procedures and put the duty on people who held particular roles.

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(With company inputs)

Published On:

Nov 18, 2022