The FTC said Thursday it is tracking Twitter with “deep concern” as top security executives — including Yoel Roth, the company’s head of trust and safety — sent in their resignations, according to media reports.
“We are tracking recent developments at Twitter with deep concern,” an FTC spokesperson told The Hill. “No CEO or company is above the law, and companies must follow our consent decrees. Our revised consent order gives us new tools to ensure compliance, and we are prepared to use them.”
The announcement came just hours after top security executives left the company, including Yoel Roth, Twitter’s Head of Trust and Safety, Lea Kissner, the chief information security officer, and Marianne Fogarty, the chief compliance officer, according to NBC News. Robin Wheeler, who was just promoted to head marketing and sales, has also left, according to Bloomberg.
Roth, who has made efforts to quell concerns about content moderation since Musk’s takeover, attended Musk’s advertiser call Wednesday, in which the new chief addressed major advertisers and shared his goals for the company. By Thursday he was gone.
Meanwhile, Musk held a last-minute town hall with employees on Thursday and warned them the company could potentially go bankrupt. “Wow. Elon Musk just told Twitter employees he’s not sure how much run rate the company has and “bankruptcy isn’t out of the question,” tweeted Zoe Schiffer, the managing editor of Platformer, who was getting live reports from the town hall. In the same town hall, he reiterated that all employees would need to come in person.
“I’ve made the hard decision to leave Twitter,” Kissner tweeted late Wednesday as she notified others of her decision to leave the company. “I’ve had the opportunity to work with amazing people and I’m so proud of the privacy, security, and IT teams and the work we’ve done. I’m looking forward to figuring out what’s next, starting with my reviews for @USENIXSecurity.”
The FTC has previously kept an eye on the social media platform, most recently fining the company $150 million civil penalty after Twitter used users’ personal information for advertisements ranging from May 2013 to September 2019, violating an FTC consent order.
In the weeks since Elon Musk’s $44 billion acquisition of the company was finalized, Twitter has continued to make drastic changes to its staffing, slashing approximately 50% of employees and most recently, canceling remote work and requiring staffers to show up for at least 40 hours per week, starting immediately.
