As Elon Musk tries to prove that Twitter misrepresented its bot numbers in a bid to back out of buying the social media platform, a whistleblower stepped forward with some damning evidence, according to reports in multiple publications, including The Washington Post.
The whistleblower is former head of security, Peiter Zatko, who claims Twitter’s bot numbers are indeed misrepresented, the platforms level of security is shoddy and that executives at the company are incentivised to turn a blind eye on such matters.
While two of those claims are up for debate and will need further evidence to support them, the point on security has some basis, with simple social engineering leading to a breach at Twitter in July of last year.
Twitter CEO, Parag Agrawal, has since responded to some of the claims, choosing to paint Zatko as a disgruntled former employee and an unreliable source.
In an email sent to all employees, Agrawal said Zatko was let go from Twitter earlier in the year over his “ineffective leadership and poor performance”. The CEO also categorised the claims from Zatko as a “false narrative that is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies, and presented without important context.”
NEW: First time Twitter CEO @paraga weighs in on whistleblower story.
Sending this message to staff this morning. pic.twitter.com/WY4TCqbA5q
— Donie O'Sullivan (@donie) August 23, 2022
At the time of writing, the trial between Musk and Twitter is slated for 17th October, with the former’s legal team having already subpoenaed a number of former employees, which includes previous CEO Jack Dorsey and Zatko.
Speaking to The Washington Post, Zatko said, “This would never be my first step, but I believe I am still fulfilling my obligation to Jack and to users of the platform.”
Whether the testimony from himself and others called by Musk’s lawyers will be enough to build a string case remains to be seen, but for now this saga shows no signs of lessening in intensity.
Should he lose, it will be interesting to see what other tactics Musk employs to try to back out of the $44 billion purchase.
