Weaponization Committee Uncovers New Information Suggesting the FTC Took Action Against Twitter After Reports of Elon Musk's Intent to Acquire the Company

Press Release

"From the FTC's briefing and subsequent letter, it appears that the FTC acted against Twitter in May 2022 as a result of Elon Musk's (at the time potential) acquisition of the company. According to the information provided, in October 2019, Twitter self-reported a privacy issue. The FTC and Twitter reached a tentative settlement agreement in [redacted]. At the time, Commissioner Slaughter served as the FTC's Acting Chair. In June 2021, you became Chair. Despite the tentative agreement in [redacted], the Commission took no action against Twitter in 2021.

The FTC's May 12 letter provides two pretextual suggestions for why the FTC did not act against Twitter in 2021 despite the tentative agreement. First, the letter suggests your nomination in the same month that the FTC reached the tentative agreement justified then-Acting Chair Slaughter's lack of action. However, your pending nomination and confirmation as a Commissioner should not have affected the day-to-day operations of the FTC or the implementation of an agreed-upon settlement. Further, because your designation as Chair was reportedly a surprise decision, then-Acting Chair Slaughter should have had no reason to wait for your confirmation because it was not expected you would assume the role of Chair.

The letter then attempts to explain the FTC's lack of action against Twitter, after you became Chair, by suggesting the need for a stronger settlement agreement. But the letter noted in vague terms that "FTC staff determined it was unable to obtain the additional relief" through the rest of 2021, without explaining why the terms of the tentative agreement were no longer acceptable to the FTC. The letter continued with equally vague assertions about what happened in 2022, stating that the Bureau Director briefed the Chair in January 2022 and that "staff resolved outstanding issues" in January and February of 2022. Ultimately, the [redacted]--just one day after Twitter accepted Mr. Musk's offer to buy the company.

The timeline of the FTC's actions raises significant questions. A close examination of the information provided suggests that there is an unjustified approximate one-year gap in the FTC's actions with respect to Twitter. A reasonable conclusion is that neither you nor Acting Chair Slaughter seriously planned to take action against Twitter until political pressure arose given Mr. Musk's impending acquisition.22 The FTC's decision to enter the May 2022 Order after Mr. Musk's acquisition became apparent gave the FTC the power to then harass Twitter under cover of the May 2022 Order. Put simply, what the Committee has learned of the FTC's actions reinforces the concern."

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