Elon Musk's chaotic introduction to Twitter ownership dominated the news last week. Among the interesting details that reemerged is the company's continuing operation under an agreement with the US Federal Trade Commission. 

However, according to various reports last week, it is not taking it seriously. 

Twitter signed a consent decree in 2011 with the FTC over its alleged failure to safeguard user info. Many Big Tech companies operate under such agreements after run-ins with regulators, and most last about 20 years. 

But despite being shared, the consent decrees hold much power over a company if it violates the agreement. 

The FTC socked Meta violations of a consent decree.

The FTC initially hit Twitter with a 2011 consent decree because Twitter's privacy controls did not work as advertised because the company's security allowed hackers entry to users' private information.

The Verge said last week that Musk and the company are aware of the consent decree but appear not to be taking it seriously. 

The website reported on a company in turmoil as they struggle to make changes and bypass standard practices and could be violating the consent decree.

It said a Twitter attorney encouraged workers to file a whistleblower compaint "if you feel uncomfortable about anything you're being asked to do." 

Twitter's Chief Information Security Officer, Lea Kissner, Chief Compliance Officer, Marianne Fogarty, and Chief Privacy Officer, Damien Kieran,   all resigned last week.

In May, the FTC settled with Twitter over another incident. In that case, the FTC fined the company $150 million and said Twitter collected users' personal information it claimed would be used to secure their accounts. Then the company used that data to target ads to users.

According to the lawyer's note to employees, if Twitter does not comply with the consent decree, it could face billions of dollars in fines.

The Verge said it had acquired  a note posted to Twitter's Slack by the unnamed company lawyer, claiming that they "heard Alex Spiro (current head of Legal) say that Elon is willing to take on a huge amount of risk about this company and its users, because 'Elon puts rockets into space, he's not afraid of the FTC.'" 

The FTC confirmed to the Verge that it is monitoring Twitter "with deep concern," It said no company or CEO is above the law. "companies must follow our consent decrees. Our revised consent order gives us new tools to ensure compliance, and we are prepared to use them." 

Riana Pfefferkorn, Twitter's former outside counsel, said in a tweet last week that the consent order calls for privacy reviews before any product changes. It also requires the company to submit a compliance notice signed by designated corporate officers to the agency two weeks after a change in company control.

That means Twitter owed the FTC a reply last week after Musk to control.

"I anticipate that all of you will be pressured by management into pushing out changes that will likely lead to major incidents," the former Twitter lawyer wrote.