Twitter Misled U.S. Regulators on Hackers, Spam, Whistleblower says


Twitter Inc misled federal regulators about its defenses against hackers and spam accounts, the social media company’s former security chief Peiter Zatko said in a whistleblower complaint.

In an 84-page complaint, Zatko, a famed hacker widely known as “Mudge,” alleged Twitter falsely claimed it had a solid security plan, according to documents relayed by congressional investigators. Twitter’s shares fell 7.3% to close at $39.86.

The document alleges Twitter prioritized user growth over reducing spam, with executives eligible to win individual bonuses of as much as $10 million tied to increases in daily users, and nothing explicitly for cutting spam.

Twitter labeled the complaint a “false narrative.” The social media company has been battling Elon Musk in court after the world’s richest person attempted to pull out of a $44-billion deal to buy Twitter. Musk said it failed to provide details about the prevalence of bot and spam accounts.

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