Twitter whistleblower to testify to Congress

News in brief

Twitter whistleblower Peiter “Mudge” Zatko will testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 13 regarding his allegations of cybersecurity failures at the social media company.

Judiciary Committee Chairman Senator Dick Durbin stated in a tweet: “Mr. Zatko’s allegations of widespread security failures and foreign state interference raise serious concerns. If these claims are accurate, they may show dangerous data privacy and security risks for Twitter users around the world.”

The US government has been circling the issue of cracking down on various social media companies for months.

Senators in July called for the Federal Trade Commission to probe TikTok for data privacy concerns, with the Federal Communications Commissioner calling the app a national security threat.

A tech antitrust bill is also currently moving through Congress, but it is unclear if it will be brought to a vote ahead of the midterm elections.