Parts of Twitter’s source code, which are used to run the social media platform, have been leaked online, according to a court filing by the company. Twitter filed the legal document on Friday with the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of California, requesting that Github, a Microsoft-owned internet hosting service for software development, remove the code from the site where it was posted. The New York Times first reported the incident.
Github has since complied with Twitter’s request and taken down the post, as indicated on its website. The leaked code includes the “[p]roprietary source code for Twitter’s platform and internal tools,” according to Twitter. The platform also stated that the code was shared without permission by a user called “FreeSpeechEnthusiast,” and requested that the court identify this individual.
Twitter has requested a subpoena for Github to disclose information related to the leak. The San Francisco-based company claimed in the filing that the posting of the source code violates copyrights held by Twitter.
This leak comes after CEO Elon Musk purchased Twitter last year for $44 billion, although he now estimates the platform is worth less than half of that amount as the company has faced a decline in advertisers. Since Musk took over, Twitter has made significant layoffs, which the Federal Trade Commission is investigating as part of its oversight of the company’s privacy and cybersecurity practices, as detailed in a congressional report.
Source: The New York Times
