US Congress is investigating Twitter whistleblower’s claims

In May, Twitter had agreed to pay $150m penalty to settle allegations that it failed to protect users’ data privacy

Lawmakers in the US Congress are investigating claims made by Twitter’s former security head in a new whistleblower complaint.

Peiter “Mudge” Zatko, Twitter’s head of security from November 2020 to January 2022, made a string of allegations against the social media company alleging that it has not been honest about privacy issues and data security, The Washington Post and CNN reported on Tuesday.

Mr Zatko, who was allegedly fired by CEO Parag Agrawal after he flagged the issues, claimed Twitter has also been subject to major breaches by foreign governments, and that the company makes little effort to fight bot accounts on the platform.

The former Twitter chief of secutiry said the platform hired two people that he believes were agents of the Indian government, suggesting they had access to user data at a time when there were widespread protests across the country.

Responding to these allegations, several lawmakers in the US Congress said they were currently investigating Mr Zatko’s claims.

Senator Richard Durbin (Democrat from Illinois), who is the chair of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee, tweeted on Tuesday that he was investigating the claims.

“If these claims are accurate, they may show dangerous data privacy & security risks for Twitter users around the world,” Mr Durbin said.

“As chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, I will continue investigating this issue and take further steps as needed to get to the bottom of these alarming allegations,” he added.

Rep Frank Pallone (Democrat from New Jersey), chair of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, also added that he was “carefully reviewing” the whistleblower’s allegations.

“I’m carefully reviewing this whistleblower disclosure and assessing next steps,” Mr Pallone said.

“These allegations are alarming and reaffirm the need to pass my comprehensive privacy legislation to protect Americans’ online data,” he added.

Senator Edward Markey wrote to Federal Trade Commission chair Lina Khan and attorney general Merrick Garland sharing “significant concerns about Twitter’s security practices.”

The new allegations, according to Mr Markey, suggest that Twitter has again “flagrantly violated” its consent decree with the FTC, just months after the social media company agreed to pay $150m penalty to settle allegations that it failed to protect the privacy of users’ data over a six-year span.

“I urge the federal government to immediately investigate these charges and, if necessary, take swift action to enforce the 2011 agreement, hold Twitter accountable for any illegal activity, and protect the data of Twitter’s users,” he wrote in his Tuesday letter.