Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), chair of the committee, authorized the subpoena sent to FTC Chair Lina Khan, accusing the agency of refusing to comply with a handful of other requests the committee has made over the last few months. The demand requires the FTC to hand over all internal communications related to Muskâs October 2022 purchase of Twitter.Â
In his letter to Khan Wednesday, Jordan accused the FTC of making âinappropriate and burdensome demandsâ of Muskâs Twitter, calling the agencyâs responses to past requests for information âwoefully insufficient.â
Shortly after Musk purchased Twitter last year, the FTC said it was monitoring the platformâs abilities to protect the security of usersâ information. In a recent report, Jordanâs committee found that the FTC had sent at least a dozen demand letters to the company since Musk took over.Â
âThe FTC respects the important role of Congressional oversight. We have made multiple offers to brief Chairman Jordanâs staff on our investigation into Twitter. Those are standing offers made prior to this entirely unnecessary subpoena,â FTC spokesman Douglas Farrar said in a statement to The Verge Wednesday.
The FTCâs investigation is reportedly centered around the platformâs abilities to uphold data security promises it made to the agency more than 10 years ago. In 2011, Twitter reached an agreement with the FTC to settle charges that the company had mishandled user data, ultimately allowing hackers unauthorized access to user accounts. As part of that agreement, Twitter was required to create âa comprehensive privacy and information security programâ to protect users.Â