Elon Musk’s X Corp (formerly Twitter) recently filed a petition with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) asking for an early termination of the 2022 privacy consent order. That order was imposed after Twitter was fined $150 million for using user phone numbers and email addresses provided for security purposes in ad targeting, and placed under 20 years of privacy monitoring. In its petition submitted in May, X stated that all employees responsible for the original violation have left the company, that it has built “a world-class privacy and data protection system,” and that the consent order “no longer serves any valid regulatory purpose.” The petition also argues that keeping the order in place would hinder X’s ability to lead in AI development.
However, the move has drawn sharply mixed reactions. Consumer advocacy groups and some Democratic lawmakers argue that X is developing AI models, which calls for stronger FTC oversight of its privacy practices, not weaker. FTC Chair Lina Khan previously pushed back on Musk’s claims, stating that an investigation showed Musk had instructed employees to take actions that “would violate the consent order,” though those actions were blocked by X’s senior information security staff. Meanwhile, some Republican state attorneys general have voiced support for X, accusing the FTC of abusing its investigative powers under the consent order.