Elon Musk's X is a 'chaotic environment' that raises serious questions about its data-privacy practices, DOJ says

• X, formerly Twitter, was fined $150 million for data-privacy violations before Elon Musk's takeover.
• But Musk is trying to have associated privacy restrictions thrown out.
• In a court filing, the DOJ has hit back, questioning X's compliance with an FTC order.

Elon Musk's X, formerly known as Twitter, has been slammed by Department of Justice lawyers as a "chaotic environment" amid a dispute over privacy concerns, a court filing shows.

Last May, before Musk's takeover, the Federal Trade Commission fined the company $150 million as part of the settlement over allegations that the platform mishandled users' data. It also saw X face more robust requirements to maintain data privacy, including periodic assessments from a third party.

The FTC said that between 2013 and 2019, X told users it only needed their emails and phone numbers for account security, but these were also used for targeted advertising.

After Musk's takeover saw top privacy executives quit, the FTC said it was tracking the company "with deep concern."

In Musk's first six months of owning the company, X's workforce fell 90%, down to about 1,000 employees, Insider reported.

This July, X hit back at the FTC's restrictions on its data practices. It asked a federal court to terminate the order and prevent Musk from being deposed by the FTC.

"Weaponization of government agencies for censorship & political machinations needs to stop," Musk tweeted at the time.

In the latest court document filed Monday, US government attorneys from the DOJ argued against this, saying X hadn't met the data privacy standards to terminate the 2022 order.

The filing said the FTC had deposed five former employees responsible for the social network's privacy practices.

Their information "revealed a chaotic environment at the company that raised serious questions about whether and how Musk and other leaders were ensuring X Corp.'s compliance with the 2022 Administrative Order."

The depositions said nearly half of Twitter's security, governance, risk, and compliance team left the company in the wake of Musk's "extremely hardcore" ultimatum. And 37% of X's privacy-program controls were left with nobody responsible for them, the filing said.

X did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal working hours.