Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

On September 13, US regulators said that Elon Musk, the company's chief technology officer and chairman, should be forced to testify in a wide range of violations investigations against X, formerly known as Twitter.

Mr Musk's massive layoffs and other decisions have raised questions about X's ability to comply with the law and protect users' privacy, according to a court filing by the Justice Department on behalf of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

In the document, US regulators tried to compel Mr Musk to testify in court. This is the latest development in an investigation before Musk's acquisition of X, but Musk's actions have led to the intensification of the investigation.

The court document cites the testimony of several former X executives, including the former chief information security officer and the former chief privacy officer. They testified that successive layoffs and forced resignations after Musk's $44 billion acquisition of X, which agreed with FTC in 2011, may have hampered X's ability to meet its security obligations.

X and its outside lawyers did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Testimonies cited in the document show that these employees leave behind so few employees that 37% to 50% of the company's security projects lack effective management and supervision, and no one is responsible for these projects. The document quoted Lea Kissner, X's former chief information security officer, as saying that other planned upgrades to the company's security projects had also been affected.

Another example cited in the document is Musk's personal attempt to speed up the launch of the company's paid subscription service, Twitter Blue. This forced the company's security team to bypass the necessary security and privacy reviews that were part of X's own policy and required by the FTC order, according to testimony from Damien Kieran, X's former chief privacy officer.

The document also said that Musk's move to allow several journalists to access the company's internal records eventually led to the exposure of so-called "Twitter Files files". The documents relate to a plan that could lead to private user data leaks, which violates FTC orders.

According to the document, Mr Musk's plan initially called for access through the company's dedicated laptop, "higher than what the average employee might have".

"employees who have been engaged in information security for a long time have intervened and implemented protective measures to reduce risks," the document said. " But the former employees testified that even so, the process cast doubt on Mr Musk's commitment to privacy and security.

X has taken action to prevent Musk from being compelled to testify in court and asked the federal court to invalidate the FTC order, which requires X to protect the privacy of users. X also accused the FTC of asking too many questions during the investigation.

But in the filing, regulators said they had good reason to ask Mr Musk to testify given that X was suddenly plunged into a "chaotic environment" after it was acquired by Mr Musk.

"the FTC has every reason to seek more information on whether these developments indicate X's failure to comply with the 2011 order," the document said. " If X is found to have violated the FTC order, he could be fined billions of dollars. Executives such as Mr Musk could also face legal sanctions if they are thought to be personally responsible for these actions.

The FTC investigation can be traced back to explosive allegations by Peiter "Mudge" Zatko, the former head of security, that X had failed to live up to its legally binding commitment to the FTC to protect user privacy and security for years. At the time, Musk had not yet acquired X.

The investigation proved political as Musk and his allies, including Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee, publicly accused the FTC of harassment and ultra vires.

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