Musk, Twitter Both Subpoena Bot Whistle-Blower in Buyout Dispute
- Peiter Zatko says firm doesn’t have handle on robot accounts
- Both sides collecting testimony before Oct. 17 Delaware trial
Elon Musk
Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Lawyers for both Elon Musk and Twitter Inc. subpoenaed a whistle-blower who says the social-media platform’s officials didn’t know or care to find out how many accounts were spam or robot accounts as the billionaire seeks to cancel a $44 billion buyout of the company.
Peiter Zatko, Twitter’s ex-head of security, said in a whistle-blower complaint last week that the company had “egregious deficiencies” in its defenses against hackers and lacked concern for privacy issues. Zatko also said he raised concerns to company officials about the number of bots on the system and claimed those apprehensions were ignored.