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US FTC asked Twitter for details on Musk’s internal communications

The US Federal Trade Commission asked Twitter to turn over some internal communications related to owner Elon Musk and other detailed information about business decisions as part of an investigation into the social media company, according to a report put out by two House of Representatives committees.

The FTC has sent more than a dozen letters to Twitter and its lawyers since Musk’s takeover in October. Among the requests were the company “identify all journalists” who were granted access to company records and to provide information about the launch of the revamped Twitter Blue subscription service, the report said.

The FTC also wants Musk to testify in connection with the probe, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Musk, in a tweet, said it was “a shameful case of weaponization of a government agency for political purposes and suppression of the truth!”

Twitter did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

The FTC said “it should come as no surprise that career staff at the commission are conducting a rigorous investigation into Twitter’s compliance with a consent order that came into effect long before Mr. Musk purchased the company.”

The staff report by the House Judiciary Committee and Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government said while some of what the FTC had asked for was relevant to its probe regarding Twitter, other elements went too far.

“There is no logical reason why the FTC, on the basis of user privacy, needs to analyze all of Twitter’s personnel decisions. And there is no logical reason why the FTC needs every single internal Twitter communication about Elon Musk,” the report said.

The agency has been asking Twitter if it has the required resources to comply with the privacy consent decree, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters last year.

One of the FTC’s concerns was whether Twitter had the staffing needed to abide by a May 2022 settlement with the U.S. regulator in which it agreed to improve its privacy practices and place responsibility on people who held certain positions. The concerns had been prompted by mass layoffs at the firm.

Twitter in May agreed to pay a fine of $150 million to settle allegations that it misused private information, and also improve its compliance practices.

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The US Federal Trade Commission asked Twitter to turn over some internal communications related to owner Elon Musk and other detailed information about business decisions as part of an investigation into the social media company, according to a report put out by two House of Representatives committees. The FTC has sent more than a dozen letters to Twitter and its lawyers since Musk's takeover in October. Among the requests were the company "identify all journalists" who were granted access to company records and to provide information about the launch of the revamped Twitter Blue subscription service, the report said. The FTC also wants Musk to testify in connection with the probe, the Wall Street Journal reported. Musk, in a tweet, said it was "a shameful case of weaponization of a government agency for political purposes and suppression of the truth!" Twitter did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment. The FTC said "it should come as no surprise that career staff at the commission are conducting a rigorous investigation into Twitter’s compliance with a consent order that came into effect long before Mr. Musk purchased the company." The staff report by the House Judiciary Committee and Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government said while some of what the FTC had asked for was relevant to its probe regarding Twitter, other elements went too far. "There is no logical reason why the FTC, on the basis of user privacy, needs to analyze all of Twitter's personnel decisions. And there is no logical reason why the FTC needs every single internal Twitter communication about Elon Musk," the report said. The agency has been asking Twitter if it has the required resources to comply with the privacy consent decree, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters last year. One of the FTC's concerns was whether Twitter had the staffing needed to abide by a May 2022 settlement with the U.S. regulator in which it agreed to improve its privacy practices and place responsibility on people who held certain positions. The concerns had been prompted by mass layoffs at the firm. Twitter in May agreed to pay a fine of $150 million to settle allegations that it misused private information, and also improve its compliance practices.

The US Federal Trade Commission asked Twitter to turn over some internal communications related to owner Elon Musk and other detailed information about business decisions as part of an investigation into the social media company, according to a report put out by two House of Representatives committees.

The FTC has sent more than a dozen letters to Twitter and its lawyers since Musk’s takeover in October. Among the requests were the company “identify all journalists” who were granted access to company records and to provide information about the launch of the revamped Twitter Blue subscription service, the report said.

The FTC also wants Musk to testify in connection with the probe, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Musk, in a tweet, said it was “a shameful case of weaponization of a government agency for political purposes and suppression of the truth!”

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Twitter did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.

The FTC said “it should come as no surprise that career staff at the commission are conducting a rigorous investigation into Twitter’s compliance with a consent order that came into effect long before Mr. Musk purchased the company.”

The staff report by the House Judiciary Committee and Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government said while some of what the FTC had asked for was relevant to its probe regarding Twitter, other elements went too far.

“There is no logical reason why the FTC, on the basis of user privacy, needs to analyze all of Twitter’s personnel decisions. And there is no logical reason why the FTC needs every single internal Twitter communication about Elon Musk,” the report said.

The agency has been asking Twitter if it has the required resources to comply with the privacy consent decree, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters last year.

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One of the FTC’s concerns was whether Twitter had the staffing needed to abide by a May 2022 settlement with the U.S. regulator in which it agreed to improve its privacy practices and place responsibility on people who held certain positions. The concerns had been prompted by mass layoffs at the firm.

Twitter in May agreed to pay a fine of $150 million to settle allegations that it misused private information, and also improve its compliance practices.

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Huawei says Chery’s Luxeed S7 delays will be resolved in April

Huawei says Chery’s Luxeed S7 delays will be resolved in April

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Huawei says Chery's Luxeed S7 delays will be resolved in April

 Huawei said that a shortage of semiconductors and factory relocation issues that had delayed production and deliveries of its Luxeed S7 sedan should be resolved from next month, local media outlet Cailianshe reported on Saturday.

It quoted Huawei managing director and chairman of its smart car solutions, Richard Yu, who was speaking about the issues surrounding Chery’s (CHERY.UL) Luxeed S7 sedan at an annual forum organised by the EV100 think tank.

Reuters reported in January that Chinese automaker Chery and another Huawei partner, Changan Auto (000625.SZ) had lodged complaints with Huawei over how production issues with a computing unit the tech giant manufactured had caused delays to deliveries of their flagship model.

The Luxeed S7 sedan – the first model for Chery’s Luxeed EV brand – had orders of about 20,000 as of Nov. 28. Luxeed said in January that buyers could be reimbursed by up to 10,000 yuan if they were unable to pick up the car as promised. The S7 is priced from 249,800 yuan ($34,716.62).

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The brand was only launched in November and had been much hyped by Huawei with Yu previously claiming the S7 would beat Tesla’s luxury Model S in performance and at a price lower than the Model 3.

Yu also told the EV100 forum that its autos business unit would likely turn a profit from April after losing billions of yuan in the past year, due to strong sales of mid to high-end models built by its partners.

Huawei launched its smart car unit in 2019 with the aim that it could become the equivalent of German automotive supplier Bosch of the intelligent electric vehicle (EV) era and supply software and components to partners.

But it is the only money-losing unit among Huawei’s main six and brought in only one billion yuan revenue in the first half of 2023, a fraction of the company’s 310.9 billion yuan total.

Last year, Huawei announced that it would spin the unit off into a new company which will receive the unit’s core technologies and resources and take investment from partners such as automaker Changan. 

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US investigating Meta for role in illicit drug sales

US investigating Meta for role in illicit drug sales

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US investigating Meta for role in illicit drug sales

US prosecutors in Virginia are probing whether Facebook-parent Meta’s (META.O) social media platforms facilitated and profited from the illegal sale of drugs, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday, citing documents and people familiar with the matter.

The prosecutors sent subpoenas last year and have been asking questions as part of a criminal grand jury probe, the report said, adding that they have also been requesting records related to drug content or illicit sale of drugs via Meta’s platforms.

The Food and Drug Administration has also been helping with the investigation, the newspaper added. It noted that investigations do not always lead to charges of wrongdoing.

The paper quoted a spokesman for Meta as saying in a statement: “The sale of illicit drugs is against our policies and we work to find and remove this content from our services”.

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“Meta proactively cooperates with law enforcement authorities to help combat the sale and distribution of illicit drugs,” he added.

The prosecutors’ office and a spokeswoman for the FDA declined to comment to WSJ.

Meta, the FDA and the Virginia Attorney General’s office did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.

Meta’s president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, said on social media platform X on Friday that Meta had joined up with the US State Department, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and Snapchat to help disrupt the sale of synthetic drugs online and educate users about the associated risks.

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Malaysia central bank says Google misquoted exchange rate a second time

Malaysia central bank says Google misquoted exchange rate a second time

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Malaysia central bank says Google misquoted exchange rate a second time

Malaysia’s central bank said on Saturday that Google had misquoted the ringgit’s exchange rate, undervaluing the currency against the dollar, and that it would seek an explanation from the tech giant.

The ringgit, which declined to a 26-year low last month, has weakened about 2.44% this year. Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) has said the currency is undervalued and does not reflect Malaysia’s positive economic fundamentals.

The bank said in a statement that Alphabet Inc’s Google (GOOGL.O) published “inaccurate” information on Friday and had also done so on Feb. 6.

“As this is the second instance of misreporting, BNM will be engaging Google for an explanation of how the inaccurate reporting occurred and the corrective measures taken given that this is a recurring issue that has afflicted Malaysia and other countries in the past few months,” BNM said in a statement.

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It did not elaborate. Google was not immediately available for comment outside of U.S. business hours.

The search giant does not verify data provided by financial exchanges and other content providers, and disclaims any obligation to do so, according to disclaimers on its website.

Google quoted the ringgit at 4.98 to the dollar on Friday, BNM said, while the Malaysian currency’s weakest level on official data was 4.7075.

BNM quoted the ringgit at 4.7015 at 9 a.m. and 4.7045 at 5 p.m. on the onshore interbank market. For comparison, LSEG data used by many international market participants quotes a Friday close of 4.7020.

BNM Governor Abdul Rasheed Ghaffour said last week Malaysia’s government and central bank were taking coordinated action to further increase flows into the foreign exchange market to ensure the ringgit remains stable.

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