Elon Musk subpoenas Twitter whistleblower
August 30, 2022
Elon Musk has subpoenaed a Twitter whistleblower who made allegations about the way the platform handles spam accounts, a move which could help the billionaire's case as he prepares to go to trial over his aborted deal to buy the website.
According to court documents filed on Monday, Musk is seeking information from whistleblower Peiter Zatko about the way Twitter measures spam accounts. Musk previously cited "the company's lax testing methodologies" for counting fake accounts as a key reason for pulling out of his deal to buy the social media giant for $44 billion (€44 billion).
In July, Zatko made a whistleblower complaint to the United State Congress in which he accused Twitter of "extreme, egregious deficiencies" when it comes to preventing spam accounts and protecting users' privacy.
"If accurate measurements [of the number of spam accounts] ever became public, it would harm the image and valuation of the company," he said at the time.
A lawyer for Twitter told the court last week that Musk's focus on spam accounts as a reason for backing out of the deal was "legally irrelevant" because Twitter always said its spam counts were only estimates and not binding representations. The five-day trial is due to kick off on October 17.
Who is Twitter whistleblower Peiter Zatko?
Zatko is a famed hacker better known by his online alias "Mudge."
In November 2020, he was hired by Twitter's CEO at the time, Jack Dorsey, to be the company's head of cybersecurity. His employment was terminated in January 2022.
Months after leaving the company, Zatko filed a whistleblower complaint in which he said Twitter executives are incentivized with hefty bonuses to boost user numbers and are not focused on culling fake accounts.
Among other things, he also accused the company of making "false and misleading statements" to the Federal Trade Commission about the protection of users' personal information.
On August 23, American media reported on Zatko's allegations for the first time, right as Musk and Twitter were embroiled in a public legal battle over the same issues.
zc/jsi (AP, AFP, Reuters)