July 2, 2026
Terms of Fury
EFF letter to FTC on X consent order (2 July 2026) [pdf]
Privacy watchdogs tell FTC: don’t let X wriggle out while commenters erupt over Elon
TLDR: A coalition of 15 advocacy groups wants the FTC to keep its privacy restrictions on X in place, saying the company still can’t be trusted with user data. Commenters turned it into a brawl over Elon Musk, politics, AI safety, and whether protecting privacy is accountability or government overreach.
The official news is serious: 15 public-interest groups, led by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, told the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to reject X’s attempt to weaken or erase a 2022 privacy order. That order came after Twitter, now X, was accused of using phone numbers and emails given for account security to help sell ads. The groups say X hasn’t earned less oversight — if anything, it needs more watching, not less.
But in the comments, the paperwork instantly turned into a full-on Elon drama arena. One side treated the letter like a necessary reality check, pushing back hard on claims that it was just “someone at EFF ranting.” Commenters were quick to point out it was 15 organizations, not one lone anti-Musk screed, and that the order was originally approved unanimously by regulators from both parties. The other side went for a classic freedom argument: why is a digital-rights group backing rules that limit what a company can do with computers and AI?
Then came the spicy subplot: people dragged in politics, alleged favor-trading, and even X’s image generator controversies. One commenter basically said the whole thing smells worse when you remember recent Musk-Trump headlines. Another zoomed in on X’s AI tools and said, in essence, “let’s not pretend the safety concerns are imaginary.” The vibe? Half accountability crusade, half comment-section cage match — with a side of “is this about privacy, politics, or both?”
Key Points
- •Fifteen public interest organizations urged the FTC to reject X Corp.’s petition to set aside or modify the 2022 order concerning Twitter.
- •The letter says the 2022 order followed deceptive practices involving user privacy and advertising by Twitter, now X Corp.
- •The FTC approved the 2022 order by a 4-0 vote, and the letter cites bipartisan support from Commissioners Christine S. Wilson and Noah Joshua Phillips.
- •The letter says the 2022 order was prompted in part by prolonged violations of a prior FTC settlement order approved unanimously in 2011.
- •Citing the Department of Justice, the letter states Twitter misrepresented privacy and security protections for nonpublic contact information from May 2013 to September 2019, affecting more than 140 million users.