Elon is putting Twitter at risk for billions in fines, says internal letter

[demmiblue]

Source: The Verge

Meanwhile, Musk’s personal lawyer is telling people ‘Elon puts rockets into space, he’s not afraid of the FTC.’

Twitter’s privacy and security team is in turmoil after Elon Musk’s changes to the service bypassed the company’s standard data governance processes. The company’s chief privacy officer Damien Kieran, chief information security officer Lea Kissner, and chief compliance officer Marianne Fogarty have all resigned, according to two sources and an internal message seen by The Verge. Kissner confirmed their departure in a tweet.

In a note posted to Twitter’s Slack and viewable to all staff, an attorney on the company’s privacy team wrote that “Elon has shown that his only priority with Twitter users is how to monetize them. I do not believe he cares about the human rights activists. the dissidents, our users in un-monetizable regions, and all the other users who have made Twitter the global town square you have all spent so long building, and we all love.”

One of the main issues appears to be the FTC settlement Twitter agreed to in May after getting caught using personal user info to target ads. If Twitter doesn’t comply with that agreement, the FTC can issue fines reaching into the billions of dollars, according to the note. The note goes on to say that the writer has “heard Alex Spiro (current head of Legal) say that Elon is willing to take on a huge amount of risk in relation to this company and its users, because ‘Elon puts rockets into space, he’s not afraid of the FTC.’”

Musk’s new legal department is also apparently asking engineers to “self-certify” compliance with FTC rules and other privacy laws. “I anticipate that all of you will de pressured by management into pushing out changes that will likely lead to major incidents,” the lawyer wrote in the message to colleagues, which you can read below.

Read more: https://www.theverge.com/2022/11/10/23451198/twitter-ftc-elon-musk-lawyer-changes-fine-warning

---

Link to tweet

[vlyons]

1. His only priority is to monetize users

Surprise surprise. Who knew? Glad I deleted my account.

[Quanto Magnus]

15. I was only able to 'deactivate' mine

the followup 'goodbye' page errored out every time...

I hope my account still deletes....

I also thought maybe that was intentional, so they don't have to explain mass deletion of accounts?

[Xoan]

2. Who knew free speech was so lucrative.

[ToxMarz]

3. Right, might be related that money equals speech thing they came up with

[Kennah]

19. I think Elon is gonna find out it's gawd awful expensive

[Javaman]

4. I'm just waiting now for someone to hack twitter and crater it. nt

[kimbutgar]

5. I hope this purchase is the beginning of the toppling of his fortune.

[Farmer-Rick]

6. He put rockets into space with the help of NASA and the US tax payer

He needed the government to do all the research and development.

And then NASA awarded Musk's corporation $1.6 Billion to work with them on space transportation.

So Musk did nothing. He just took our tax dollars and research for a publicity stunt.

[Orrex]

8. Musk's only genius is in making fools think that he's a genius.

[StClone]

9. Like the fact that his escape into space!

If his lawyer states things for him as in ‘Elon puts rockets into space, he’s not afraid of the FTC.’

His lawyer better help him rethink that. As Elon is Earthbound and so will the legal and financial pressures he faces. No genius would disregard that. Ask Genius Trump as his final days wind down.

[CurtEastPoint]

11. hmmmm.... now who else is just like that? Hmmmm... OH!

and his buddy Musty

[mahina]

18. Who, the original inventor of Twitter?

I kid-

the original inventor of Tesla cars!

I kid/

[Orrex]

20. LOL

Yes, that's him!

[Orrex]

7. Musk is Trump with a slightly better hairstyle

[Ford_Prefect]

10. I think Musk should be on board the next rocket we can send up, without a return ticket.

Let him find out what it's like to depend on people whom you do not own or control for your continued existence. Gravity might suddenly have a whole new meaning, eh Elon?

[LiberalFighter]

12. Stick him for all of it.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

13. Twitter is still under a pretty stringent FTC consent decree

Link to tweet

[littlemissmartypants]

14. What a shame he didn't launch himself in that Tesla. Huge missed opportunity. ❤️

[PatrickforB]

16. Merriam Webster defines Elon Musk...er....I mean

HUBRIS

as a state of exaggerated pride or self-confidence. They go on to point out that the word comes "from the ancient Greeks, who considered hubris a dangerous character flaw capable of provoking the wrath of the gods. In classical Greek tragedy, hubris was often a fatal shortcoming that brought about the fall of the tragic hero. Typically, overconfidence led the hero to attempt to overstep the boundaries of human limitations and assume a godlike status, and the gods inevitably humbled the offender with a sharp reminder of their mortality.

I'm citing Merriam Webster. Here is the link: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hubris

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

17. Another stable genius

AKA Barnyard smartass.

[nvme]

21. Turn that shit into Myspace

fuck musk