Twitter’s lawyer got fed up with Elon Musk’s games and resigned

Twitter’s lawyer, despite knowing about the company’s important cases, could not deal with Elon Musk and resigned from his position.

Since the Federal Trade Commission launched an investigation into Twitter’s security and privacy concerns, the two companies’ negotiations have not been going well. Last week, news was published that last year the CEO of Twitter, Elon Musk, requested to meet with the head of the Federal Trade Commission, Lina Khan. Now, Twitter’s chief lawyer Mr. Christian Dowell, who played an important role in the negotiations with the FTC, has left his position and written his resignation.

Dowell joined Twitter in 2020, and with the acquisition of the company in 2022 by Elon Musk and the dismissal and presence of some other lawyers, he had become the chief lawyer of this social network. Dowell, who has not yet personally confirmed his resignation, was advising Twitter’s legal products department and setting goals for the department’s future operations. In this regard, he was directly involved in the FTC’s negotiations, he is fully aware of how many things happened, and he played an important role in advancing the negotiation process.

The Federal Trade Commission had already been involved with Twitter about ten years ago over the terms of a 2011 settlement, claiming that the platform could not adequately protect the personal information of its users. The FTC’s current investigation was also triggered by Musk firing a large number of Twitter employees, which raised concerns about the security of users’ data. The New York Times also reports that the commission’s sensitivity on Twitter’s performance has increased with the departure of the executives of Twitter’s security department due to the belief that Elon Musk violated the principles and rules of the FTC.

If the New York Times’ claim about Dowell’s resignation is true, it remains to be seen who will replace him as an adviser and lead the negotiations with the FTC. Musk no longer uses his own personal lawyers on Twitter matters, but the Times says he is getting help from his lawyers at SpaceX, his other company, on Twitter.

While the FTC’s investigation continues, Twitter’s firing of staff ensures the social network’s problems continue. Not only is Twitter taking legal action against one of its former employees for leaking Twitter’s source code on GitHub, but it is also in conflict with other fired employees over their pay and benefits.

Twitter will have to fill Dowell’s position in the very near future, as Germany’s Federal Prosecutor’s Office also launched another investigation into Twitter this week. This organization has expressed its concern over Twitter’s failure to remove or block illegal content in this country, and if Twitter does not take action in this regard, it will face this social network with a fine of 50 million euros.

Musk, who did not know much about the German warning, said in a tweet, “I heard about this from the beginning. Did they even say what issues they are sensitive and worried about? Reuters then reported filing several complaints about illegal content on Twitter, but officials said the complaints only cited “sufficient evidence” and declined to cite examples of illegal content.

Forbes has prepared a report on illegal content in Germany, and it mentions hate speech, threatening individuals, slander and defamation, and anti-Semitic speech. The report also states that complaints have been filed against Twitter by the Digital Rights Campaign, HateAid and the European Community of Jewish Students for failing to remove anti-Semitic content.