Senate AS Minta CEO Twitter Jawab Tuduhan Peiter "Mudge" Zatko

US Democratic Representative Bennie Thompson asked Twitter to respond to Zatko's report. (photo: twitter @BennieGThompson)

JAKARTA - The chairman of the US Senate Homeland Security and the key subcommittee on Thursday, August 25 demanded that Twitter's Chief Executive, Parag Agrawal, provide his answer to the whistleblower's allegations of intrusive security and privacy practices on social media."

Representatives for the US Democratic Party, Bennie Thompson, and Yvette Clarke, also asked Twitter in a letter to detail its preparations for its 2022 election campaign agenda and address allegations made by Twitter's former security chief, Peiter "Mudge" Zatko, that the social media company was misleading regulators.

The 84-page report from Zatko, a notorious hacker who uses his skills to improve security for companies and governments, accuses Twitter of falsely claiming it has a solid security plan. He also accused Twitter of making misleading statements about its defenses against hackers and spam accounts.

The lawmaker noted Zatko pointed "to several instances in which Twitter executives obscured and misrepresented information to Congress, regulators and its own board. It may even bow to pressure from foreign governments to put their operations on payrolls at companies. If these allegations are true, then Twitter has a surprising list of security tasks.

As reported by Reuters, lawmakers asked Twitter to outline its plans "to prioritize, correct and address the security deficiencies raised in the Zatko complaint". Twitter should also address how to prioritize the security enhancements needed to combat disinformation in time for the upcoming midterm elections."

According to his spokesman, Zatko has discussed his complaint with staff of the Senate Judiciary Committee, the House Energy and Commerce Committee, and the Senate Intelligence Committee. The US Senate Judiciary Committee said it would hold a Sept. 13 hearing with the agenda of hearing Zatko's report.

Zatko's complaint makes many claims and allegations that Twitter is prioritizing user growth over reducing spam on its platform. It even gives eligible executives to win individual bonuses of up to 10 million US dollars associated with daily user increases. Twitter is also accused of not having an explicit plan to cut spam.

Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the report. This week, they called the complaint a "false narrative."