FTC To Elon: How ‘Bout You Comply With Our Demands, Rather Than Trying To Charm Lina Khan?

As you’ll recall, it became apparent pretty much immediately after Elon Musk took over Twitter that he had zero idea that the company was under an FTC consent decree that had just been renewed months earlier, and which had some fairly stringent rules regarding data privacy and how the company rolled out new features. Sometimes it pays to, you know, do some due diligence?

Since then, Musk has told people he’s not worried about the FTC but, he probably should be. While there are many things the agency does that I think are mistakes, the FTC is not the SEC. It is a lot more powerful and can cause real problems for companies. And, it’s no surprise to know that the FTC has very much been digging into whether or not Musk’s Twitter has been violating the consent decree.

And, while Musk is telling people he’s not worried, the NY Times has a scoop noting that back in January, Musk tried to score a meeting with FTC chair Lina Khan, which was rejected. And it appears that the rejection came with a message:

Mr. Musk, who owns Twitter, asked to meet with Lina Khan, the F.T.C.’s chair, but was rebuffed, according to the documents. Mr. Musk made the attempt late last year, a person with knowledge of the matter said. In a Jan. 27 letter declining the meeting, Ms. Khan told a Twitter lawyer to focus on complying with investigators’ demands for information before she would consider meeting with Mr. Musk.

Cold.

The details are not that surprising however:

In Ms. Khan’s Jan. 27 letter to Twitter, she noted that the company was under investigation and had dragged its heels in providing documents to the F.T.C., delaying depositions with witnesses including Mr. Musk. She said she was “troubled by Twitter’s delays and the obstacles that these delays are creating for the F.T.C.’s investigation.”

“I recommend that Twitter appropriately prioritize its legal obligations to provide the requested information,” she wrote. “Once Twitter has fully complied with all F.T.C. requests, I will be happy to consider scheduling a meeting with Mr. Musk.”

As a former FTC chair notes in the article, this effectively confirms that Musk is concerned about what the FTC is going to find:

“If you thought you could simply brush it aside, and it was not a matter of great concern, you’d just ignore it,” said William Kovacic, a former F.T.C. chair. “If you think it’s important, that would be a reason to seek out a meeting.”

Considering how much Musk has focused on cutting costs, I’d imagine getting hit with a massive FTC fine (not to mention even more compliance costs) is not something he’s interested in these days. But thinking he could charm his way out of it seems like perhaps not the best idea.