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Here’s why Twitter employees’ access to its ‘God Mode’ function is a problem

The platform’s internal function allows Twitter employees to take over private accounts and control its tweet activity, a whistleblower has said

hacking

A Twitter whistleblower has spoken out about a ‘God Mode’ internal function of the platform that allows employees to take over private accounts and control its tweet activity, reported the Economic Times. The complaint was filed only a few months after whistleblower Mudge Zatko talked about Twitter's security failures. The whistleblower approached the US authorities about how 4,000 Twitter employees may have been able to access this mode since 2016. The person shared the complaint with the Justice department, the Federal Trade Commission and others, two weeks before Elon Musk took over Twitter. So, we don’t really know if this function has been disposed since the change of leadership. What’s the problem with 'God Mode'? That a platform may be controlling people’s free speech online is worry enough but as per the whistleblower’s account there’s also no log as to who uses this function. In the complaint, the 'God Mode' is said to be based on an ‘honour system.’ Issue 1: Say tomorrow you log in to your Twitter account and find tweets that you had never written/posted on your behalf, there’s no way to find out who did it. Even if you find out it was a Twitter employee, there’s no record to check who used God Mode and when. Issue 2: There appears to be no criteria for the usage of this function, meaning that it’s entirely upto the employees whether they use the 'God Mode' ethically or abuse it. Issue 3: Remember the infamous 2020 case where…

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I'm interested in the shaping and strengthening of rights in the digital space. I cover cybersecurity, platform regulation, gig worker economy. In my free time, I'm either binge-watching an anime or off on a hike.

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