Elon Musk’s Twitter Asks Court to Terminate FTC Settlement
Elon Musk’s Twitter asked a federal court to terminate a 2022 settlement it agreed to with the Federal Trade Commission over alleged privacy violations, saying it had been subject to a “burdensome and vexatious enforcement investigation." The move came hours before House Republicans and FTC Chair Lina Khan clashed at a hearing Thursday over her agency’s investigation of Twitter and what her critics say is an antibusiness agenda. The FTC is examining whether Twitter under Musk is protecting users’ privacy.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R., Ohio) and other Republicans on the panel say Democrats are targeting Musk for actions such as reinstating banned conservative accounts, including that of former President Donald Trump.
The panel has subpoenaed Khan for documents related to the probe, but she has withheld them, saying FTC investigations are confidential and that the agency will “enforce the law without fear or favor." The FTC has said the Twitter investigation is looking for potential breaches of a previous agreement between the FTC and Twitter, in which the company settled alleged violations of consumer-protection law by agreeing to a detailed and intrusive set of data-security controls. Republicans say that disclosures about the FTC’s probe indicate the agency is overstepping its authority.
“This wasn’t harassment, it was a shakedown," Jordan said. Jordan pointed on Thursday to new disclosures in Twitter’s court filing, which cited testimony by a third-party auditor hired to review Twitter’s practices under the FTC order.
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