Parts of Twitter Source Code Leaked Online

MAR 27 2023·Updated FEB 7 2024

Story

Image credit: npr

The Facts

Parts of Twitter Inc's source code were posted online and had been exposed until Friday when the company had the material removed, Twitter has said. It also announced that the company has filed a court order to locate the source of the leak.
CNN
According to court filings, Twitter issued a subpoena to the software collaboration platform GitHub, where a user called "FreeSpeechEnthusiast" shared portions of Twitter's source code without permission. Twitter argues the postings infringe on the company's copyrights.
CNBC
In its filing, Twitter has requested that the US District Court for the Northern District of California orders Github to share "[a]ll identifying information" associated with 'FreeSpeechEnthusiast.' However, GitHub has not confirmed whether it has supplied the information about the user, nor has it commented on how long Twitter's source code had been publicly accessible.
Reuters
The news comes at an especially challenging time for Twitter, as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is investigating mass layoffs from the organization that have taken place since Elon Musk purchased the company last year for $44B. Documents from a congressional report have also revealed that the FTC is probing the company's privacy and cybersecurity practices.
NPR
Twitter CEO Musk had previously announced on March 31, 2022, that the company was planning to open source the code used to recommend tweets — it is not known whether this code was included in the leak.
CNBC

Sources Split

LEFT

CENTER

RIGHT

ESTAB
CRIT

CENTER

PRO
ESTAB

The Spin

Establishment-critical narrative

Elon Musk has previously said that he is a free-speech absolutist — surely this should apply to Twitter source code. Musk has himself claimed that all forms of transparency should be practiced in order for the freedom of speech to be upheld. If this is true then Twitter should drop its filing.

Fortune

Pro-establishment narrative

Someone unlawfully stole and leaked Twitter's source code, thereby infringing upon the company's copyright. Likely committed by a disgruntled Twitter employee, this incident should serve as a warning for all tech companies to take their security more seriously.