Elon Musk’s Twitter faces a FTC privacy investigation

The FTC late last year deepened an investigation into Twitter’s privacy and data security practices in the wake of the company’s takeover by Musk, Bloomberg reported last year. The deposition of Musk would mark an escalation of that investigation.

The FTC has pummeled Twitter with document requests, asking the company to turn over communications related to its recent layoffs, Musk’s leadership and other topics, according to the congressional report. The agency is also asking for documents related to the so-called “Twitter Files,” a project in which Musk gave outside journalists access to internal Twitter information. 

The information about the investigation comes from a report released Tuesday by the Republican-led House Judiciary Committee, which provides insight into the FTC’s response to Musk’s Twitter takeover. 

The Wall Street Journal first reported on the FTC’s plans.

“A shameful case of weaponization of a government agency for political purposes and suppression of the truth!” Musk posted on Twitter Tuesday. 

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The FTC declined to comment. 

The FTC in the three months after Musk’s acquisition sent over a dozen letters to Twitter. The House Judiciary Committee Republicans in their report claimed the outreach shows that the agency has been “attempting to harass” the company. 

Twitter is currently under a consent decree with the FTC, meaning the agency is supposed to conduct oversight of the company’s privacy practices. Many of the layoffs under Musk have hit employees charged with protecting privacy and security on the social media platform.