Twitter Wants GitHub To Reveal Source Code Leaker’s Identity

Twitter's source code got leaked; it wants to know who did it.

The company behind the microblogging platform is trying to find out who is behind the GitHub account that leaked parts of its source code to the public before the company ever did.

Twitter CEO Elon Musk previously announced that the company would make its code open source soon, though the leak made have done it for the company a bit too early, per Gizmodo.

Twitter Source Code Leak Details

Twitter's source code (or at least parts of it) got leaked when a GitHub user going by the handle FreeSpeechEnthusiast uploaded some to the online code repository, per the New York Times.

Interestingly, FreeSpeechEnthusiast's handle may be a jab to Musk's fallible attempts at being a "free speech absolutist. Nevertheless, a GitHub DMCA takedown request shows that Twitter moved to have the leaked source code pulled from GitHub on Friday, claiming that the leaked code included "proprietary source code for Twitter's platform and internal tools."

The Verge mentioned in its report that proprietary source code is often among a company's most closely held trade secrets and that leaking it to the public could reveal its software's vulnerabilities to would-be attackers. Competitors who manage to get Twitter's source code would also have an advantage on the microblogging site due to the source code revealing non-public internal workings.

While GitHub agreed to the request, it is unclear exactly how long FreeSpeechEnthusiast's post was up for people to see, meaning that someone might have gotten hold of it and could be using the source code for something untoward.

Although Twitter has been replying to press inquiries with its signature poop emoji, court documents show that the company is asking a US court to have GitHub reveal the identity of the person behind FreeSpeechEnthusiast, per The Guardian. The company also wants to know who else downloaded its leaked source code, along with their real names, addresses, contact details, social media profiles, and IP addresses.

A spokesperson for GitHub, a Microsoft-owned business, did not respond to questions about whether the company would comply with Twitter's request to supply such information.

Twitter executives suspect that a former Twitter employee who left in 2022 may be responsible for the leak, though that lead could be difficult to follow up on as Musk laid off thousands of Twitter employees shortly after he took over.

Regardless, Musk is obsessed with the threat of Twitter being sabotaged by current and former staff, per Platformer.

Twitter's Supposed Plans For Its Source Code

The source code's leak follows Musk's Mar. 17 tweet stating that he is preparing to open source Twitter's tweet recommendation algorithm on Mar. 31, per Tech Crunch.

There are some benefits to making Twitter's tweet recommendation algorithm open-sourced. For one, it could potentially help keep lawmakers and regulators at bay due to the increased political interest in how Twitter's and other social platforms' content recommendations work.

Secondly, it could provide a distraction for people to focus on while he does other things within Twitter, such as firing ethical API teams, limiting API access, and asking Twitter's engineers to boost his tweets' engagement after being outdone by President Biden during the Super Bowl match between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs.