I love Leaks. Also, I will sue if you leak – Rolling Stone

While Elon Musk and his Twitter files reveal the inner workings of the social media company’s former regime, the self-proclaimed Chief Twit is taking steps to ensure he never gets Twitter files during his own reign.

Platformer’s managing editor Zoe Schiffer reported Saturday that Musk sent out an email warning the company’s remaining employees about leaking “confidential” information, and threatened to potentially sue those who violated the nondisclosure agreement.

“As evidenced by the many detailed leaks of confidential Twitter information, a few individuals at our company continue to act in a manner that is contrary to the company’s interests and in violation of their NDA,” Musk’s email said.

“This will only be said once: If you clearly and knowingly violate the NDA you signed when you joined, you accept liability to the fullest extent of the law, and Twitter will immediately seek damages.”

Employees were given until 5pm to sign the NDAs. The warning stands in marked contrast to Musk’s stance as a “free speech absolute” who has often tweeted like-minded slogans such as “Sunlight is the best disinfectant” and “Openness is the key to trust,” yet does not share the same beliefs. when it comes to his own tenure at Twitter.

Fittingly, the email was leaked to Schiffer, who also shared a link to The Tech Worker Handbook to inform them of their rights.

Musk, meanwhile, upset the right Friday night with a Twitter Files release about Twitter’s decision to ban Donald Trump amid the uproar at the Capitol on Jan. 6. Musk, however, has not been as open about his own reasoning for banning users: After suspending Kanye West for posting a picture of a swastika, Musk reinstated the Twitter accounts of white supremacists and neo-Nazis despite the fact that they was previously removed from the platform. (West, it seems, made the mistake of violating Musk’s privacy policy when he was booted soon after tweeting a screenshot of a text message exchange with Musk, as well as an unflattering photo of the Twitter boss. “FAFO,” he tweeted Musk subsequently West’s banishment, shorthand for “fucked around, found out.”)

It’s also not the first time a Musk-led company has harnessed the power of an NDA: In 2021, Tesla drivers testing a beta version of the automaker’s Full Self-Driving technology were asked to sign NDAs to prevent critical information to software from reaching both the media and the public.

“Remember, there are a lot of people who want Tesla to fail,” the NDA stated in the Early Access program (via Inverse ). “Don’t let them mischaracterize your feedback and media posts.”

The NDAs drew ire from The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which “relies on consumer reports as an important source of information to evaluate potential safety deficiencies,” as the agency noted in a letter to Tesla. “Any agreement that would prevent or discourage participants in the early access beta release program from reporting safety concerns to NHTSA is unacceptable. Moreover, even limitations on sharing certain information publicly adversely affects NHTSA’s ability to obtain safety-relevant information, says the letter.