Big Tech Whistleblower Exposes Twitter’s Close Relationship With The Chinese Communist PartyA former Twitter executive testified to the U.S. Congress on Tuesday regarding concerns about Twitter’s data security issues. His testimony and the following Q&A with senators revealed many problems relating to the safety and security of user data, but the most disturbing revelation was Twitter’s relationship with China.
Peiter Zatko, the former head of security at Twitter, was fired by the company in January of this year. Zatko filed a whistleblower complaint with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) last month, alleging the company “prioritized profits over security” and exposed Twitter users worldwide to data privacy and security risks. Zatko especially raised concern about the company’s cozy relationship with foreign governments, such as China.
Although the Chinese government officially bans Twitter, the company, according to Zatko, has been eager to kowtow to the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) for the sake of the company’s bottom line. Twitter’s cooperation with the Chinese government is two-fold. One aspect is user data security. Zatko disclosed that the FBI notified Twitter that at least one Chinese agent was working in the company. It was not clear what the company did about this.
Zatko said he and some other Twitter employees had voiced their concerns to senior executives about the possibility that the CCP would be able to access sensitive Twitter user data. The CCP could use this information to monitor dissidents inside China and overseas critics, quickly locate their whereabouts and impose harm on them.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Chinese authorities imprisoned more than 50 Chinese citizens between 2019 and 2021 for using Twitter and other foreign platforms to criticize Beijing’s policy. For example, one Chinese user with fewer than 300 followers was sentenced to jail for nine months after complaining on Twitter about Beijing’s mishandling of Covid-19...............
https://thefederalist.com/2022/09/16/big-tech-whistleblower-exposes-twitters-close-relationship-with-the-chinese-communist-party/
