Since its controversial takeover of TwitterElon Musk was reportedly paranoid about being sabotaged by disgruntled staff – and his suspicions could have been proven.
An internal manhunt has been launched to find an individual who has uploaded parts of Twitter’s source code, which provides the basis for the operation of the entire platform. According to New York Timesthe social media platform filed a case with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on Friday and also sent a copyright infringement notice to the online collaboration platform GitHub, where the code has been disclosed.
The request received by Microsoft-owned GitHub from Musk’s Twitter was seen by Fortune. The request, filed under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), comes from an unnamed Twitter staffer who requested that “proprietary source code for Twitter’s internal platform and tools” be removed from the site.
The form adds that it does not contain any details about the person who posted the link. Instead, it provides a URL link to a “public space” on GitHub with a profile named “FreeSpeechEnthusiast”. The name is arguably a mockery of the CEO of Twitter himself who once called himself a “absolutist of freedom of expression”, saying his commitment to free speech is so strong that he will tolerate threats to his personal safety.
My commitment to free speech even extends to not banning the account following my plane, even if it poses a direct risk to personal safety.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 7, 2022
However, it seems that copyright violations are a step too far for the You’re here CEO, with the DMCA request also hinting that an internal hunt is also underway. The request to GitHub adds that it wishes to receive “copies of any associated upload/download/access history (and any contact information, IP address, or other session information related thereto), and any associated logs related to this repository or any forks of it, before removing all infringing content from Github.
GitHub has not confirmed Fortune whether or not it collected or provided such information to Twitter. It also wouldn’t confirm how long the source code has been online, although some reports suggest it could have been a matter of months.
THE New York Times reports that the subpoena to the district courts also asks them to force GitHub to turn over the information. The Federal Court case as seen by the FinancialTimes was submitted by Julian Moore, director of Twitter’s internal legal team, who said the post included “proprietary source code for Twitter’s internal platform and tools.”
The search is on
The potential ramifications of the leak could be massive, sources familiar with the investigation said. New York Times. First, internal investigation executives are concerned that the code could be used to identify and exploit security vulnerabilities, which in turn could lead to user data breaches or even site shutdowns.
On top of that, the leaked code could also give competitors insight into the inner workings of the San Francisco-based company, as GitHub’s audience is a pool of employees working for other top companies. GitHub describes itself as a platform to promote collaboration among developers, 90% of whom work for Fortune 100 companies.
Two people informed of the internal investigation say executives believe the person who published the code left the company last year, after Musk took over in October. Unfortunately for investigators, that doesn’t really narrow the pool, with around 75% of Twitter employees either resign Or to be fired since SpaceX the founder took it over.
According to the numbers Musk featured in DecemberTwitter’s membership now stands at around 2,000 from 7,500 in November. Among the teams that would have been sacked are human rights, communication, machine learning ethics, transparency and accountability, and accessibility experience.
Such moves didn’t make him popular, with former employees recounting Initiated the CEO had become obsessed with fear of sabotagewhile other reports revealed that two bodyguards followed Musk around the offices of the social media platform—even in the toilet.
It’s been a tough few days on Twitter for employees and Musk. Over the weekend, the member of the so-called PayPal Mafia admitted he thinks the value of the platform fell by more than half since he took it over; days before, he launched a 2:30 tirade asking employees to return to the office.
Twitter under Musk would have eliminated its communications team, and under a new policy, Fortune received a 💩 emoji when he approached the company for comment.
