Twitter asks court to end US FTC order over its data privacy practices

By Emily Birnbaum

Twitter Inc. asked a federal court in California Thursday to terminate or pare back an order that requires the Federal Trade Commission to oversee the company’s privacy practices.
 

Twitter’s lawyers wrote that the FTC intensified an investigation into Twitter once billionaire Elon Musk bought the platform last March, opening up an investigation into the company that “has spiraled out of control and become tainted by bias.”

Twitter in the filing said the FTC has “pummeled” the company with “burdensome letters and requests for depositions,” issuing demands for information as frequently as one letter every other week. The FTC sought to depose Musk on July 25, according to the filing, but FTC Chair Lina Khan declined to meet with him personally until Twitter complied with the information requests.

The FTC had no comment Thursday about Twitter’s request.

The move comes as Khan is scheduled to testify this morning before the House Judiciary Committee, which is led by Republicans who are expected to grill her over her leadership of the antitrust and consumer protection agency.

The committee earlier this year subpoenaed documents from Khan related to its ongoing probe of Twitter. The Republicans argued the agency’s investigation amounted to an “abuse of its statutory authorities.” 

Twitter is currently under a consent decree with the FTC, meaning the agency is overseeing the company’s privacy practices. The FTC deepened its investigation into Twitter after Musk fired thousands of employees, some of whom were charged with protecting privacy and security on Twitter.

An employee of Ernst & Young, the consulting firm brought in to assess Twitter’s privacy practices, said in a deposition he believed the agency was “trying to influence the outcome of the engagement before it had started,” according to the filing. 

The FTC has insisted it is doing its job to protect Americans’ privacy.