Twitter Fined $150 Million For Violating User Privacy

For a long time, social media has been scrutinized. There has been a barrage of criticism from all sides. After a backlash over its allowance of Holocaust denial, Facebook was obliged to amend its hate speech policy. Following public anger, Facebook and Twitter banned Trump from their services, prompting Trump to initiate a class-action lawsuit against both companies. Things are still going when it comes to controversy and social media giants.

Variety reports that Twitter is now embroiled in yet another controversy. After alleging that the website allowed advertisers to obtain users’ private data in order to more accurately target them, the Federal Trade Commission fined the company $150 million. The FTC claims that none of this is done with users’ knowledge.

The FTC claimed that Twitter violated a 2011 rule that “explicitly prohibited” the social media platform from misleading users about its privacy procedures. In addition to the $150 million punishment, the agency stated that Twitter must stop “profiting from its deceptively collected data.” The fine isn’t unexpected, Twitter has been anticipating it since 2020.

Twitter chief privacy officer Damien Kieran:

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“Keeping data secure and respecting privacy is something we take extremely seriously, and we have cooperated with the FTC every step of the way.

In reaching this settlement, we have paid a $150M USD penalty, and we have aligned with the agency on operational updates and program enhancements to ensure that people’s personal data remains secure and their privacy protected.”

Twitter has been in a state of flux for some time, but things became much more complicated when Elon Musk declared his decision to buy the company. However, it appears that the deal has been put on hold. Stay tuned to Thirsty for more updates.

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