{"id":1744710,"date":"2022-11-19T06:04:14","date_gmt":"2022-11-19T11:04:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1744710"},"modified":"2022-11-19T08:18:52","modified_gmt":"2022-11-19T13:18:52","slug":"senate-democrats-urge-ftc-to-probe-twitter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-democrats-urge-ftc-to-probe-twitter\/","title":{"rendered":"Senate Democrats Urge FTC to Probe Twitter"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">14<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsenate-democrats-urge-ftc-to-probe-twitter%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1744710&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>A group of U.S. senators called on the Federal Trade Commission (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-ftc\">FTC<\/a>) to consider an investigation into whether Twitter breached its consent decree or consumer protection laws under new owner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/t-elon-musk\">Elon Musk<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The seven Democrats, led by Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), wrote a letter to FTC Chair Lina Khan over what they called Twitter\u2019s \u201cserious, willful disregard for the safety and security of its users.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.blumenthal.senate.gov\/imo\/media\/doc\/111722ftctwitterletter.pdf\">letter<\/a> dated Nov. 17, the lawmakers said Musk has taken \u201calarming steps\u201d after the tech billionaire officially acquired Twitter at the end of last month.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn recent weeks, Twitter\u2019s new Chief Executive Officer, Elon Musk, has taken alarming steps that have undermined the integrity and safety of the platform, and announced new features despite clear warnings those changes would be abused for fraud, scams, and dangerous impersonation,\u201d read the letter.<\/p>\n<p>The new features, such as Twitter Blue, an $8 blue-check subscription service, resulted in fake accounts impersonating President Joe Biden, senators, and other big brands, according to the letter.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, the group wrote that a departure of key executives in Twitter, including the heads of cybersecurity and privacy, called into question \u201cwhether personal data is adequately protected from misuse or breach.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are concerned that the actions taken by Mr. Musk and others in Twitter management could already represent a violation of the FTC\u2019s consent decree,\u201d read the letter.<\/p>\n<p>Prior to Musk\u2019s takeover of the company, the agency was \u201calready on notice\u201d about the allegation of Twitter\u2019s \u201cinadequate security practice,\u201d from Peiter \u201cMudge\u201d Zatko, a whistleblower who had served as Twitter\u2019s head of security before being fired earlier this year, according to the letter.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe urge the Commission vigorously oversee its consent decree with Twitter and to bring enforcement actions against any breaches or business practices that are unfair or deceptive, including bringing civil penalties and imposing liability on individual Twitter executives where appropriate.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3664653\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/img.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/uploads\/2021\/01\/20\/dianne-feinstein-4-1200x800.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazy size-medium wp-image-3664653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/white.png\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/dianne-feinstein-4-600x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"feinstein\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-3664653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/dianne-feinstein-4-600x400-1.jpg\" alt=\"feinstein\" width=\"600\" height=\"400\" \/><\/noscript><\/figcaption><\/a> Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) speaks in Washington on Jan. 19, 2021. (Anna Moneymaker\/Pool\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/figure>\n<p>The letter was co-signed by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.), Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.).<\/p>\n<p>The FTC declined to comment. Twitter didn\u2019t immediately respond to requests for comment.<\/p>\n<p>A spokesperson for FTC said last week the agency has been closely watching Twitter\u2019s moves under Musk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are tracking recent developments at Twitter with deep concern,\u201d read the statement issued on Nov. [11]. \u201cNo CEO or company is above the law, and companies must follow our consent decrees.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In recent days, several top executives in Twitter publicly announced their departure from the company, such as chief information security officer Lea Kissner and Yoel Roth, the head of safety and integrity who was <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2022\/11\/11\/post-censoring-twitter-exec-yoel-roth-among-latest-to-quit\/\">reportedly<\/a> involved in blocking sharing posts about Hunter Biden ahead of the 2020 presidential election.<\/p>\n<p>The letter also came after Musk introduced a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/twitter-to-subject-impersonators-to-permanent-ban-elon-musk_4846691.html\">permanent ban<\/a> on impersonators to fight trolls who got \u201cblue check\u201d verification badges by taking advantage of the Twitter Blue service. Musk said that \u201cany Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying \u2018parody\u2019 will be permanently suspended.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Twitter Blue subscription service is part of the tech mogul\u2019s efforts to help the social media company\u2019s revenue. Musk previously said Twitter is losing $4 million per day.<\/p>\n<div class=\"author_wrapper\">\n<div class=\"one_author_block round\">\n<div class=\"top_row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/author-dorothy-li\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theepochtimes.com\/assets\/themes\/eet\/images\/default-user.png\" alt=\"Dorothy Li\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Follow<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Dorothy Li is a reporter for The Epoch Times based in Europe.\n<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A group of U.S. senators called on the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to consider an investigation into whether Twitter breached its consent decree or consumer protection laws under new owner<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1744219,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1744710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1744710","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1744710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1744710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1744219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1744710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1744710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1744710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}