Chief Executive Officer of Twitter Inc., Parag Agrawal, has refuted claims made by a former executive of the company that the social media giant is ignoring major security susceptibilities and is unaware of the number of spam bots on the platform.
Gadget Africa reported that a former top security executive at Twitter, Peiter “Mudge” Zatko filed a whistleblower complaint with Congress and regulatory agencies, accusing his former employer of allowing its Space feature to function despite deficient moderations.
The whistleblower could give Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk the edge to easily walk out of the already $44 billion Twitter acquisition deal he signed in April.
Debunking the report, the social media platform in an email sent to employers said Zatko was fired in January due to poor performance, he further warn his employers to avoid coming media distractions.
Agrawal’s full email to employees obtained by Bloomberg, read, “Team, there are news reports outlining claims about Twitter’s privacy, security, and data protection practices that were made by Mudge Zatko, a former Twitter executive who was terminated in January 2022 for ineffective leadership and poor performance.
“We are reviewing the redacted claims that have been published, but what we’ve seen so far is a false narrative that is riddled with inconsistencies and inaccuracies, and presented without important context.
“I know this is frustrating and confusing to read, given Mudge was accountable for many aspects of this work he is now inaccurately portraying more than six months after his termination. But none of this takes away from the important work you have done and continue to do to safeguard the privacy and security of our customers and their data.
“This year alone, we have meaningfully accelerated our progress through increased focus and incredible leadership from Lea Kissner, Damien Kieran, and Nick Caldwell. This work continues to be an important priority for us, and if you want to read more about our approach, you can find a summary here.
“Given the spotlight on Twitter at the moment, we can assume that we will continue to see more headlines in the coming days – this will only make our work harder.
“I know that all of you take a lot of pride in the work we do together and in the values that guide us. We will pursue all paths to defend our integrity as a company and set the record straight.
“See you all at #OneTeam tomorrow.”
