US FTC says it is viewing Twitter with “deep concern” | Business and Economic News

The US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) said on Thursday it was viewing Twitter with “deep concern” after the social media platform’s top privacy and compliance officer left, putting it at risk of breaching regulatory orders.

Lea Kissner, the security manager of the company on Thursday a the tweet he said he left. Chief Privacy Officer Damien Kieran and Marianne Fogarty have also resigned, according to an internal message seen by Reuters. Global Head of Security and Integrity Yoel Roth later resigned after Musk’s first all-hands meeting, the Washington Post reported.

The departures come after the platform’s new owner, billionaire Elon Musk, moved quickly to clean house. Twitter owner for $44 million at the end of last month. He announced plans cut half of the workforce last week, he promised to stop fake accounts and is charging $8 per month for Twitter Blue service, which will include blue check verification.

“We are following the latest developments on Twitter with great concern,” Douglas Farrar, the FTC’s director of public affairs, told Reuters.

“No CEO or company is above the law and companies must follow our consent decrees. Our revised consent decree gives us new tools to ensure compliance and we are ready to use them,” Farrar said.

Also on Thursday, a technology news website Information has been reported Musk warned the rest of Twitter’s staff that the company could have several billion dollars in negative net cash flow next year and that “failure is out of the question” if it can’t earn more than it spends.

In May, Twitter agreed to pay $150 million after the FTC said it misused private information, such as phone numbers, to target users with advertising, after saying the information was collected only for security reasons.

A lawyer for Twitter’s privacy group announced the executive departures in a memo seen by Reuters on Thursday and posted on Twitter’s Slack messaging system.

In the memo, the attorney cited hearing that Alex Spiro, Twitter’s legal chief, said Musk was willing to take a “big risk” with Twitter. “Elon puts rockets into space, he’s not afraid of the FTC,” the lawyer quoted Spiro as saying.

Twitter did not respond to the FTC’s notice, the attorney’s note or a request for comment on the exits. Spiro did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“Platform management under its new management”

Since taking office, Musk has fired former CEO Parag Agrawal and other top executives, and the company’s advertising and marketing chiefs left soon after, adding to concerns that Twitter doesn’t have enough people to monitor regulatory compliance.

The acquisition has raised concerns that Musk, who has often drawn into political debates, could come under pressure from countries trying to control speech online.

U.S. President Joe Biden was prompted to say on Wednesday that Musk is interested in “collaboration and/or technical engagement with other countries.” worth looking at“.

Musk told advertisers on Wednesday, speaking about Twitter’s Spaces feature, that he aimed to make the platform a force for truth and stop fake accounts, hoping to appease advertisers shaken by the company’s changes.

His guarantees may not be enough.

Chipotle Mexican Grill said Thursday it was removing paid and owned content from Twitter “while we better understand the direction of the platform with its new leadership.”

General Motors joined other brands that have paused advertising on Twitter since Musk took over in hopes of lifting content moderation rules.

Musk sent his first email to Twitter employees on Thursday, saying that remote work would not be allowed and that they would be required to be in the office at least 40 hours a week, according to Bloomberg News.

In the email, Musk said he wanted to see subscriptions make up half of Twitter’s revenue.

Musk tweeted on Thursday: “There are too many broken basic Blue ‘verification’ marks, so we have no choice but to remove the legacy Blue in the coming months.”

The attorney’s memo confirming the executive departures was first reported by tech news outlet The Verge.