What To Expect From The Twitter Whistleblower’s Tell-All Court Testimony
Former Twitter head of security, Peiter Zatko, is scheduled to give a detailed testimony about the social media company in court tomorrow.
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Twitter is a place for relatively innocuous discussions about current events, celebrities, and daily-life occurrences. But behind the social media platform is a large-scale privacy breach that has fooled people worldwide. Huge tech and social media corporations like Twitter are under investigation for nonconsensually releasing user data and information to third-party buyers. Due to a Twitter whistleblower, the US DOJ and Federal Trade Commission are investigating the social media company.
Twitter’s former head of security, Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, filed an 84-page report to the Department of Justice documenting his employer’s intention to prioritize user growth over protecting privacy. Tomorrow, this Twitter whistleblower will testify in front of a Senate panel to discuss his employer’s role in consistent privacy breaches and alleged claims about Twitter’s obstruction of their own security guidelines. He’s also accusing executives at the company of covering up bad news and complaints instead of fixing problems when brought to their attention, including security issues and software malfunctions.
Zatko’s report details countless incidents of Twitter executives taking an apathetic stance on security breaches. The complaint also stated that employed staff had too much access to user data and privacy information, way more than Twitter lets on. But executives at the company believe Zatkoa’s report is fallacious and unfounded. Twitter claims that the deposition contains inaccuracies and lacks context about the social media company’s intentions. Still, the Senate will decide if the Twitter whistleblower’s report is merited and if Twitter will pay for infringing upon its users’ privacy while using the platform.
This type of discovery hasn’t been uncommon for social media and tech companies in the United States. As more truthtellers like the Twitter whistleblower come forward, more governmental figures are interested in investigating these companies for violating antitrust or privacy protection laws. Facebook has been in the hot seat for selling user information for directed advertisements without user consent. As Mark Zuckerberg was tried in court, more discoveries about similar social media platforms having similar privacy issues popped up.
Some wonder if this Twitter whistleblower had an ulterior motive for filing his report. In his claim, Zatko stated that Twitter executives consistently lie about their actions, including misreporting the number of bots on the platform for Elon Musk. Though without substantial evidence, Musk also firmly believed that Twitter misrepresented how many fake accounts were active on the platform, which was his main reason for terminating his deal to buy the company. Some think that Zatko and Musk are in cahoots to bring Twitter down, but Zatko publically stated that his claim has nothing to do with Musk’s rejected multi-billion-dollar deal.
Before the court goes to trial, US lawmakers are encouraging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Twitter. Already, prominent senators are expressing concern for these executives who allegedly covered up complaints about privacy violations. The Twitter whistleblower could not only change the way Twitter operates but galvanize politicians to crack down on other social media platforms committing identical crimes. If what Zitko is saying is true, Twitter users may be shocked at how compromised their private information is when using the platform.
