Musk's X poses "serious risk to Americans' privacy," advocates warn FTC
Privacy advocates have warned the FTC that Elon Musk's social media platform X poses a "serious risk to Americans' privacy," citing concerns over data collection, security practices, and potential policy changes under Musk's leadership.
Background
- X (formerly Twitter) is the social media platform Elon Musk acquired in 2022 for $44 billion. Musk has since rebranded it, gutted trust-and-safety teams, and changed content moderation and data-handling practices.
- The FTC (Federal Trade Commission) is the US consumer-protection agency that enforces privacy and data security laws. X is already operating under a 2022 FTC consent decree (a legally binding settlement) that requires it to maintain strict privacy safeguards — the result of prior violations.
- Privacy advocates are warning that changes under Musk — including a new policy allowing third-party AI training on user data and reported cuts to compliance staff — violate the FTC order and put user data at risk.
- This matters because if the FTC finds X in violation, it can impose heavy fines or even force structural changes, and the outcome could set a precedent for how aggressively the US enforces privacy rules against major platforms.