Elon Musk has said for months that Twitter misled investors about the platform’s financial health, and that it has far more spam bots on its site than it claims. Credit - Jonathan Newton—The Washington Post via Getty Images
Twitter’s former security chief has alleged that Twitter has far more spam bots on its platform than it acknowledges, and that executives deprioritized getting an accurate count—in part because the truth may not look good to advertisers. Additionally, the method that Twitter uses to publicize the portion of spam on its platform deliberately ignores most of these fake accounts, Peiter “Mudge” Zatko claims in an 84-page whistleblower disclosure.
The allegations from Zatko, a well-known cybersecurity expert, seem to support those made by Elon Musk, who is locked in a legal battle with Twitter over his bid to buy the company. Musk has said for months that Twitter misled investors about the platform’s financial health, including the proportion of spam bots on the site.
The Washington Post and CNN first reported Mudge’s whistleblower disclosure, which was filed in July with regulators, including the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The report also contains allegations that Twitter has “egregious” security and privacy vulnerabilities, and that company executives misled users, the board of directors, and federal regulators about them. A Twitter spokesperson wrote in a statement to TIME in response to questions about the whistleblower disclosures that “...
The Church of Scientology is asking for a judge to make the Los Angeles Police Department hand over information about alleged leaks regarding Leah Remini and the church leader’s wife ... TMZ has ...