Twitter Files 41o38 Elon Musk's Twitter Leak Raises Concern Over External Access to Data

Elon Musk said earlier this month that journalist Bari Weiss and writer Matt Taibbi have unfettered access to the Twitter Files. 1x205k

By Kurt Wagner, Bloomberg | Updated: 9 December 2022 15:37 IST

Twitter Files: Elon Musk's Twitter Leak Raises Concern Over External Access to Data

Photo Credit: Twitter 4m6b2k

he screenshots were shared as part of the “Twitter Files”

Highlights

Elon Musk took control of Twitter in $44 billion deal in October
The screenshots carry a watermark
The screenshots were shared by journalist Bari Weiss on Thursday

ment

Elon Musk is giving outside writers unprecedented access to internal Twitter information, instructing the current head of trust and safety to provide screenshots of s' s.

Screenshots showing internal systems restricted to a relatively small number of people in charge of moderating content were shared by journalist Bari Weiss on Thursday. The images carry a watermark — a translucent label — indicating they were taken from the employee view of Twitter's trust and safety head, Ella Irwin.

The watermarked screenshots, taken since December 7, 2022, raised concerns about whether Weiss had access to Irwin's internal , which would also mean access to sensitive information like a 's private messages, according to people with knowledge of Twitter's systems.

Twitter Placed People on 'Secret' Blacklists, Limited Visibility: Report

Irwin later clarified that she took the screenshots herself to prevent such a scenario. “For security purposes, the screenshots requested came from me so we could ensure no PII,” or personally identifiable information, “was exposed,” Irwin said on Twitter. “We did not give this access to reporters and no, reporters were not accessing DMs,” or direct messages.

The watermarks were added to employee s after Twitter was hacked in 2020, the people said, a move intended to make it easier for Twitter to know where screenshots of internal systems were coming from.

Weiss didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Twitter Will Display Shadowban Status, Let s Appeal Decisions

The screenshots were shared as part of the “Twitter Files,” a collection of internal documents and emails from former Twitter employees that Musk handed over to outside reporters who are now publishing them.

Musk said earlier this month that Weiss and another writer, Matt Taibbi, have unfettered access to the Twitter Files. People with knowledge of Twitter's systems are concerned that such broad access could leave Twitter in violation of its 2022 privacy agreement with the Federal Trade Commission.

“Feels like Weiss' thread should be enough for the FTC to open an investigation into a violation of the consent decree and perhaps get a subpoena for Twitter's internal access logs,” tweeted Alex Stamos, who formerly ran security at Meta Platforms Inc. and is now at the Stanford Internet Observatory.

Twitter Sued by Women Over Discriminatory Layoffs After Musk Takeover

Part of Twitter's FTC agreement stipulates that employee access to sensitive data is only granted to people with a valid business justification for accessing said data. The executives who would have approved that access, or would have investigated its misuse, have left the company.

“The authors have broad and expanding access to Twitter's files,” Weiss tweeted Thursday. “The only condition we agreed to was that the material would first be published on Twitter.”

What are the best smartphones you can buy in India in 2022? These are the phones we think stood out the most this year Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.