Tesla, an electric car manufacturer, claims it delivered a record 1.3 million vehicles in 2018, a 40% increase from 2021.
It follows the company’s more than 405,000 vehicle deliveries in the final three months of 2022.
That number, however, fell short of Wall Street predictions of 430,000 deliveries for the time period.
The demand for automobiles is anticipated to slow this year as potential customers fret over the recession and rising interest rates.
In a statement to investors, Tesla said it had to deal with “significant COVID and supply chain related challenges throughout the year”.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, authorities in South Korea said they would fine Tesla $2.2 million (£1.8 million) for failing to tell its customers about the shorter driving range of its electric vehicles in low temperatures.
The Korea Fair Trade Commission said the company had exaggerated the “driving ranges of its cars on a single charge, their fuel cost-effectiveness compared to gasoline vehicles, as well as the performance of its superchargers.”
Tesla did not immediately respond to the BBC’s request for comment.
Highlighting the logistics issues faced by the world’s most valuable car maker, deliveries in the fourth quarter of the year were about 34,000 fewer than what Tesla produced.
The shortfall is unusual for Tesla, as it had previously managed to deliver about as many vehicles as it produced.
In October, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk said he was working to resolve the issue.
Like other car makers, Tesla faces the potential challenge of slowing demand for vehicles as customers deal with rising borrowing costs and concerns about an economic slowdown.
Tesla also faces competition from traditional motor manufacturing giants such as Ford and General Motors, as well as newer entrants to the market like Rivian and Lucid in the US and China’s BYD and Nio.
The company is scheduled to announce financial results for the fourth quarter of 2022 and the year as a whole on 25 January.
Tesla said in a separate statement that it plans to host its Investor Day on 1 March and livestream the event from its Gigafactory in Texas.
“Our investors will be able to see our most advanced production line as well as discuss long-term expansion plans, the Generation 3 platform, capital allocation, and other subjects with our leadership team,” the company said.
Tesla’s shares fell by 65% in 2022 – its worst year since going public in 2010 – as investors worried about disruptions to production, concerns over a slowdown in demand and Mr Musk’s focus on Twitter.
The multi-billionaire bought thesocial media platform at the end of October for $44 billion (£36.4 billion) and has spent much of his time since then trying to turn the business around.
Elon Musk, who passed that milestone in January 2021, months after Jeff Bezos, became the second person in history to generate a personal fortune of more than $200 billion.
The Tesla Inc. chief executive officer has now achieved a first of his own: becoming the only person in history to erase $200 billion from their net worth.
Musk, 51, has seen his wealth plummet to $137 billion after Tesla shares tumbled in recent weeks, including an 11% drop on Tuesday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. His fortune peaked at $340 billion on Nov. 4, 2021, and he remained the world’s richest person until he was overtaken this month by Bernard Arnault, the French tycoon behind luxury-goods powerhouse LVMH.
The round-number milestone reflects just how high Musk soared during the run-up in asset prices during the easy-money pandemic era. Tesla exceeded a $1 trillion market capitalization for the first time in October 2021, joining the likes of ubiquitous technology companies Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc., even though its electric vehicles represented only a sliver of the overall auto market.
Now Tesla’s dominance in electric cars, the foundation of its lofty valuation, is in jeopardy as competitors catch up. It’s offering US consumers a rare $7,500 discount to take delivery of its two highest-volume models before year-end, while also reportedly reducing production at its Shanghai plant.
Meanwhile, with pressure on Tesla intensifying, Musk has been preoccupied with Twitter, which he acquired for $44 billion in late October. He’s applied a move-fast-and-break-things approach such as firing staff then asking them to come back and applying content policies haphazardly to justify banning the accounts of some prominent journalists who cover him.
The decline in Tesla shares has been so steep — the shares fell 65% in 2022 — and Musk has sold so much this year to help cover his Twitter purchase, that they’re no longer his biggest asset, according to Bloomberg’s wealth index. Musk’s stake in his closely held Space Exploration Technologies Corp., at $44.8 billion, exceeds his approximately $44 billion position in Tesla stock (he still has options worth an estimated $27.8 billion). Musk now owns 42.2% of SpaceX, according to a recent filing.
Musk, for his part, has dismissed concerns about Tesla and has repeatedly taken to Twitter to criticize the Federal Reserve for raising interest rates at the fastest pace in a generation.
“Tesla is executing better than ever!” Musk tweeted on Dec. 16. “We don’t control the Federal Reserve. That is the real problem here.”
The billionaire, who has previously borrowed extensively against his stake in Tesla, has though also recently warned against the dangers of borrowed money in panicky markets.
“I would really advise people not to have margin debt in a volatile stock market and you know, from a cash standpoint, keep powder dry,” Musk said in the All-In podcast released this month. “You can get some pretty extreme things happening in a down market.”
Another week, another unwelcome and unnecessary change to Twitter thanks to Elon Musk.
The social media playform typically kept the viewing metrics for tweets private, allowing users to see how their content was being engaged with but not the public. However, Twitter has now made it so that tweets have a public view count alongside retweets, quote tweets, and likes. The feature started to roll out on Thursday, and is now showing up for users on web and the iOS and Android apps.
Per a Twitter FAQ, not all tweets will have public view counts. Community tweets, Twitter Circle tweets, and older tweets will not have the data available. “Anyone who views your Tweet counts as a view, regardless of where they see your Tweet (e.g. Home, Search, Profiles, Tweets embedded in articles, etc.) or whether or not they follow you. Even an author looking at their own Tweet counts as a view,” reads the FAQ. “Multiple views may be counted if you view a Tweet more than once, but not all views are unique. For example, you could look at a Tweet on web and then on your phone, and that would count as two views.”
When users began to question what the point of a view count on tweets is, Musk shared a justification. “Tweets are read ~100 times more than they are liked,” he shared, ignoring how engagement has always been a far more important metric on Twitter, especially when it comes to advertisers.
Tweets are read ~100 times more than they are liked — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 23, 2022
Other users highlighted the user interface design of views, which currently sit on the left hand side under tweet. Elon, who recently shared a poll to decide whether he should step down as Twitter CEO, asked users if the impression count should be moved to the right or stay on the left.
Elon Muskdeclared on Tuesday that he intends to continue leading Twitter until he can find a suitable candidate to take his place.
Musk’s announcement came after millions of Twitter users asked him to step down in an unscientific poll the billionaire himself created and promised to abide by.
“I will resign as CEO as soon as I find someone foolish enough to take the job!” Musk tweeted. “After that, I will just run the software & servers teams.”
Since taking over San Francisco-based Twitter in late October, Musk’s run as CEO has been marked by quickly issued rules and policies that have often been withdrawn or changed soon after being made public.
He has also alienated some investors in his electric vehicle company Tesla who are concerned that Twitter is taking too much of his attention.
Some of Musk’s actions have unnerved Twitter advertisers and turned off users. They include laying off half of Twitter’s workforce, letting go of contract content moderators and disbanding a council of trust and safety advisors that the company formed in 2016 to address hate speech, child exploitation, suicide, self-harm and other problems on the platform.
Musk, who also helms the SpaceX rocket company, has previously acknowledged how difficult it will be to find someone to take over as Twitter CEO.
Bantering with Twitter followers last Sunday, he said that the person replacing him “must like pain a lot” to run a company that he said has been “in the fast lane to bankruptcy.”
“No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor,” Musk tweeted.
As things stand, Musk would still retain overwhelming influence over the platform as its owner. He fired the company’s board of directors soon after taking control.
Prior to deactivating his Twitter account for good, the Philly rapper posted one last tweet, sharing an explanation with his followers regarding why he’s leaving.
“Ima deactivate Twitter forever and go to a new social where it’s more good vibes based off building, creating and motivation,” he wrote. “Whoever run my shit turn this off forever … ima takeover my YouTube account to replace me interacting with supports! Too many bots and weird people.”
Shortly after posting the tweet, Meek Mill officially deactivated his account. However, he is still active on Instagram, where he has more than 23 million followers.
Meek’s Twitter departure arrives after Elon Musk, who acquired the platform in October for $44 billion, shared a poll on Sunday asking users: “Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.”
Musk’s poll received over 17.5 million responses, with 57.5 percent of the voters saying he should step down.
“As the saying goes, be careful what you wish, as you might get it,” Musk tweeted as the results began to roll in. “Those who want power are the ones who least deserve it,” he added in another tweet.
“Those who want power are the ones who least deserve it,” he added in another tweet.
Elon Musk has stated that he will step down as Twitter’s CEO once he finds someone “foolish enough to take the job.”
Prior to this, the billionaire made a commitment to follow the outcome of a Twitter poll in which 57.5% of respondents favoured his leaving the position.
He claims that even after a replacement is found, he will continue to lead the software and servers teams.
The platform’s modifications since his takeover have drawn a lot of flak.
Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.
Since Mr Musk bought the social media site in October, he has fired about half of its staff and attempted a rollout of Twitter’s paid-for verification feature before putting it on pause. The feature was relaunched last week.
Civil liberties groups have also criticised his approach to content moderation, accusing him of taking steps that will increase hate speech and misinformation.
On Friday, Mr Musk was condemned by the United Nations and European Union over Twitter’s decision to suspend some journalists who cover the social media firm.
The UN tweeted that media freedom was “not a toy”, while the EU threatened Twitter with sanctions.
This is the first time the multibillionaire has responded to the poll launched on Sunday asking if he should resign. Finding someone to take over the social media platform may be a challenge, according to Mr Musk. Some people speculate Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey could also come back to run the company. He resigned as chief executive in November 2021.
“No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive,” he tweeted following the poll.
No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.
Other names mentioned as possible replacements include Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s former chief operating office, Sriram Krishnan, engineer and close confidante to Mr Musk, and Jared Kushner, US former presidential adviser and son-in-law of Donald Trump.
In the past Mr Musk has obeyed Twitter polls. He is fond of quoting the Latin phrase vox populi, vox dei which roughly means “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.
Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.
In response to a tweet saying Twitter Blue subscribers “should be the only ones that can vote in policy related polls. We actually have skin in the game”, Mr Musk said: “Good point, Twitter will make that change.”
Twitter’s paid-for verification feature was rolled out for a second time last week after its launch was paused. The service costs $8 per month, or $11 for people using the Twitter app on Apple devices, and gives subscribers a “blue tick”.
Previously a blue tick was used as a badge of authenticity and was free.
For weeks, investors have called on Mr Musk to step down from running the social media platform, saying he has been distracted from properly running Tesla.
Shares in the the electric car company have plummeted more than 65% over the past year.
Mr Musk sold billions of dollars worth of Tesla shares to help fund his purchase, which helped to push the shares down.
After a majority of users voted for him to resign, Elon Muskdeclared that Twitter will only permit accounts with a blue tick to vote on changes to policy.
In a poll that Mr. Musk posted on Twitter, asking if he should step down as CEO, 57.5% of respondents said “yes.”
He hasn’t addressed the poll’s outcome directly since that time.
But he has stated that Twitter will change its rules so that only subscribers will be able to vote on corporate policy.
One user claimed that so-called bots appeared to have voted heavily in the poll about Mr Musk’s role at the firm. Mr Musk said he found the claim “interesting”.
The billionaire had said when he ran the poll that he would abide by the result. If he does quit as chief executive, he will remain as Twitter’s owner.
Bruce Daisley, former vice president of Twitter, compared any potential change to that of a football manager. “The chairman still remains and Elon Musk is going to be that ever-present voice in the back of the room,” he told the BBC’s Today programme.
In response to a tweet saying Twitter Blue subscribers “should be the only ones that can vote in policy related polls. We actually have skin in the game”, Mr Musk said: “Good point, Twitter will make that change”.
Twitter’s paid-for verification feature was rolled out for a second time last week after its launch was paused. The service costs $8 per month, or $11 for people using the Twitter app on Apple devices, and gives subscribers a “blue tick”.
Previously a blue tick was used as verification tool for high-profile accounts as a badge of authenticity and was free.
On Monday, Mr Musk held a poll on his future as chief executive. More than 17.5 million users voted and the majority backed him stepping down.
Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.
While the poll was running he replied to one user suggesting there was no replacement chief executive lined up, saying: “No one wants the job who can actually keep Twitter alive. There is no successor.”
The technology tycoon, who also runs electric car maker Tesla and space rocket firm Space X, has faced much criticism since taking over the site.
He has obeyed the results of his Twitter polls in the past and quoted the phrase “vox populi, vox dei”, a Latin phrase which roughly means “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.
Mr Musk bought Twitter for $44bn (£36bn) in October after attempting to back out of the deal.
Since taking control, he has been criticised for his approach to content moderation, with some civil liberties groups accusing him of taking steps that will increase hate speech and misinformation.
On Friday, he was condemned by the United Nations and European Union over Twitter’s decision to suspend some journalists who cover the social media firm. He has also fired about half of Twitter’s staff.
Mr Daisley said through Mr Musk’s activity, you could “get a hint” over what he was thinking through his replies to users.
“He does seem to be quibbling with the vote,” he added.
Mr Musk has also been accused of neglecting his electric car company Tesla, which is where most of his wealth is. Tesla shares have lost more than 60% in value this year, with some saying his obsession with Twitter is destroying the brand.
Last week, Leo KoGuan, the third largest individual shareholder in Tesla, called for Mr Musk to step down as the boss of the electric car maker.
“Elon abandoned Tesla and Tesla has no working CEO. Tesla needs and deserves to have [a] working full time CEO,” he tweeted.
Twitter users have voted in favour of Elon Musk stepping down as the platform’s chief executive after the billionaire ran a poll on his future.
A total of 57.5% voted “yes” after Mr Musk asked his 122 million followers whether he should stand down.
Mr Musk, who bought Twitter for $44bn (£36bn), said before the poll closed that he would abide by the result.
The technology tycoon, who also runs Tesla and Space X, has faced much criticism since taking over the site.
Mr Musk is yet to comment since the poll closed. Even if he were to resign as chief executive, he would remain as Twitter’s owner.
About 17.5 million people voted in his poll on Monday.
In the past Mr Musk has obeyed Twitter polls. He’s fond of quoting the phrase “vox populi, vox dei”, a Latin phrase which roughly means “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.
Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.
A former Twitter member of staff, who left the company recently, told the BBC that Mr Musk was “showing himself to be the incompetent fool we all knew he was”.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, they added: “His investors are surely looking at this now and questioning whether he was the right horse to back.
“I imagine he’s getting pressure from investors to step down and is using this poll to make it look like he’s following the will of the people instead of the will of those paying his bills.”
Minutes before the polled closed, the founder of crypto exchange Binance replied to Mr Musk saying he should “stay the course” and not step down.
Changpeng Zhao is thought to be one of Twitter’s investors and said in May he had backed Mr Musk taking over by making a $500m investment.
Elon Musk was pictured with Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner watching the World Cup final in Qatar on Sunday
Dan Ives, senior equity analyst at Wedbush Securities, told the BBC before the poll closed that he believed the vote would “ultimately” lead to the “ending of Musk’s reign as chief executive of Twitter”.
There has been a flurry of controversial changes at Twitter since Mr Musk bought the social media site.
He has fired about half of its staff and attempted a rollout of Twitter’s paid-for verification feature before putting it on pause. The feature was relaunched last week.
He has also been criticised for his approach to content moderation, with some civil liberties groups accusing him of taking steps that will increase hate speech and misinformation.
On Friday, Mr Musk was condemned by the United Nations and European Union over Twitter’s decision to suspend some journalists who cover the social media firm.
The UN tweeted that media freedom is “not a toy”, while the EU threatened Twitter with sanctions.
‘Circus show’
Mr Ives said the last few weeks and months had been a “black eye for Musk and a black eye for Tesla” which he said was the “golden child” because it is where most of the billionaire’s wealth is.
“Twitter right now – it’s a quicksand situation and I think it’s gotten worse since Musk took over Twitter. It’s been a circus show,” he added.
“I think ultimately in the next 24 hours Musk will probably name a new temporary CEO of Twitter.”
After starting the poll, Mr Musk tweeted: “As the saying goes, be careful what you wish, as you might get it.”
He added later: “Those who want power are the ones who least deserve it.”
As the saying goes, be careful what you wish, as you might get it
Mr Ives said he believed Mr Musk had realised he “cannot balance” being the boss of Twitter as well as his electric car company Tesla and space rocket firm SpaceX.
“The biggest problem is the more controversy he creates, advertisers leave and they run for the hills and that’s 90% of revenue for Twitter,” he added.
Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said investors at Tesla would be “closely watching” Mr Musk’s poll.
“Given how much of a distraction Musk’s tenure at Twitter has become, shareholders in the electric vehicle manufacturer will be breathing a big sigh of relief if he steps back from Twitter and gets back to the day job at Tesla,” he said.
“For someone who sets so much store by work ethic, Musk sure seems to spend a lot of time on social media. With Tesla shares having more than halved year-to-date, Musk needs to roll up his sleeves and get his main business back on the road.”
Musk’s electric car firm has fallen sharply in value, with some saying his obsession with Twitter is destroying the brand.
He received the backing of several investors to help get his purchase of the site over the line.
In May, it was reported the backers included massive firms such as Fidelity, which is known for managing retirement accounts, and Sequoia Capital, which has backed other technology firms Apple, Google and Airbnb.
Others are thought to include Binance chief founder Changpeng Zhao, Oracle co-founder and Mr Musk’s friend, Larry Ellison, sovereign wealth fund Qatar Holding and Saudi Arabian investor Prince Alwaleed bin Talal.
Mr Musk also announced on Twitter that major policy changes would be voted on in the future.
On Sunday, Twitter said it would shut down accounts solely designed to promote other social media platforms, however, the web page detailing the policy appears to no longer exist.
Twitter users have voted in favour of Elon Musk stepping down as the platform’s chief executive after the billionaire ran a poll on his future.
A total of 57.5% voted “yes” after Mr Musk asked his 122 million followers whether he should stand down.
Mr Musk, who bought Twitter for $44bn (£36bn), said before the poll closed that he would abide by the result.
The technology tycoon, who also runs Tesla and Space X, has faced much criticism since taking over the site.
Mr Musk is yet to comment since the poll closed. Even if he were to resign as chief executive, he would remain as Twitter’s owner.
About 17.5 million people voted in his poll on Monday.
In the past Mr Musk has obeyed Twitter polls. He’s fond of quoting the phrase “vox populi, vox dei”, a Latin phrase which roughly means “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.
Should I step down as head of Twitter? I will abide by the results of this poll.
A former Twitter member of staff, who left the company recently, told the BBC that Mr Musk was “showing himself to be the incompetent fool we all knew he was”.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, they added: “His investors are surely looking at this now and questioning whether he was the right horse to back.
“I imagine he’s getting pressure from investors to step down and is using this poll to make it look like he’s following the will of the people instead of the will of those paying his bills.”
Minutes before the polled closed, the founder of crypto exchange Binance replied to Mr Musk saying he should “stay the course” and not step down.
Elon Musk was pictured with Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner watching the World Cup final in Qatar on Sunday
Dan Ives, senior equity analyst at Wedbush Securities, told the BBC before the poll closed that he believed the vote would “ultimately” lead to the “ending of Musk’s reign as chief executive of Twitter”.
There has been a flurry of controversial changes at Twitter since Mr Musk bought the social media site.
He has fired about half of its staff and attempted a rollout of Twitter’s paid-for verification feature before putting it on pause. The feature was relaunched last week.
He has also been criticised for his approach to content moderation, with some civil liberties groups accusing him of taking steps that will increase hate speech and misinformation.
The UN tweeted that media freedom is “not a toy”, while the EU threatened Twitter with sanctions.
‘Circus show’
Mr Ives said the last few weeks and months had been a “black eye for Musk and a black eye for Tesla” which he said was the “golden child” because it is where most of the billionaire’s wealth is.
“Twitter right now – it’s a quicksand situation and I think it’s gotten worse since Musk took over Twitter. It’s been a circus show,” he added.
“I think ultimately in the next 24 hours Musk will probably name a new temporary CEO of Twitter.”
After starting the poll, Mr Musk tweeted: “As the saying goes, be careful what you wish, as you might get it.”
He added later: “Those who want power are the ones who least deserve it.”
The poll comes as Twitter says it will shut down accounts solely designed to promote other social media platforms.
The measure would also affect accounts that linkoff to or contain usernames from platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr and Post, the company said in a tweet.
But cross-content posting from other sites will still be allowed.
Former Twitter boss Jack Dorsey, who recently invested in Nostr, replied to the Twitter post with one word: “Why?”.
In a reply to another user posting about the Nostr promotion ban, Dorsey said, “doesn’t make sense”.
On Saturday, Washington Post reporter Taylor Lorenz was suspended for breaking the new rule before it had been formally announced.
After being reinstated on Sunday she posted a link to the tweet she claimed got her barred.
Twitter had already blocked users from sharing some links to Mastodon, the platform many Twitter users moved to after Mr Musk’s takeover.
But in a series of tweets on Sunday Twitter said: “We recognize that many of our users are active on other social media platforms. However, we will no longer allow free promotion of certain social media platforms on Twitter.
“Specifically, we will remove accounts created solely for the purpose of promoting other social platforms and content that contains links or usernames for the following platforms: Facebook, Instagram, Mastodon, Truth Social, Tribel, Nostr and Post.”
Examples of possible violations could include tweets such as “follow me @username on Instagram” or “check out my profile on Facebook – facebook.com/username”, it said in a blog setting out the details.
Any attempts to bypass the restrictions would also be a breach, it added.
Those who break the rules for the first time or as in an “isolated incident” could be asked to delete the offending tweets or be temporarily locked out of their accounts.
But any subsequent offenses “will result in permanent suspension”, it said.
Users can continue to post content to Twitter from prohibited platforms, however, and paid adverts from those sites will still be allowed.
Casually sharing occasional links is fine, but no more relentless advertising of competitors for free, which is absurd in the extreme
A few hours after the announcement, Mr Musk appeared to contradict it by tweeting that “casually sharing occasional links is fine, but no more relentless advertising of competitors for free, which is absurd in the extreme”.
Meanwhile, the boss of Post, one of the prohibited platforms, promoted his site in a tweet following the announcement.
“We make it easy to add all your social media links to your profile since none of us only use one platform,” Noam Bardin tweeted, adding “Freedom = Choice.”
There has been flurry of controversial changes at Twitter since Mr Musk bought the social media site for $44bn (£36bn) in October.
He has fired around half of its staff and attempted a chaotic rollout of Twitter’s paid-for verification feature before putting it on pause. The feature was relaunched last week.
The billionaire’s approach to content moderation has also been criticised, with some civil liberties groups accusing him of taking steps that will increase hate speech and misinformation.
On Friday,he reinstated a number of journalists he had suspended for allegedly sharing location data about him after the EU and UN called it an attack on press freedom.
Twitter Inc.’s live audio service, Twitter Spaces, is down after a number of journalists that had just been suspended from the social network found they could still participate on it.
Twitter owner Elon Musk said late Thursday night that the company was fixing an old bug and the audio service “should be working tomorrow.”
Earlier in the evening, Musk’s network threw reporters from CNN, the Washington Post and the New York Times, among others, into a seven-day suspension for allegedly disclosing the location of his private jet.
BuzzFeed News reporter Katie Notopoulos went live on Twitter Spaces to discuss the abrupt spate of bans — which came without communication to either the journalists or their publications — and was joined by Drew Harwell of the Washington Post and Matt Binder of Mashable, two of the suspended reporters.
Their tweets were no longer visible and they could not post new ones, however they were still allowed to speak on the Spaces service.
Musk dropped in on the session as well, after it accumulated thousands of listeners, to say tersely that anyone who doxxes — gives personal location information about another person — will be suspended.
The journalists countered that they had not posted any real-time flight data, as he alleged, but by then the billionaire had quit the call. The dialogue drew more than 40,000 listeners at its peak.
Twitter Spaces went down while Notopoulos’ session was still ongoing, disconnecting everyone, she said in a later tweet. No recording or information about that session is available on Twitter now.
Musk’s bans have set alarm bells ringing among European Union regulators and politicians, who warned that Twitter will have to tread carefully when new rules on digital content and media freedom take effect in coming months.
A strong backlash in Europe has been sparked by Elon Musk’s decision to abruptly ban prominent tech journalists from Twitter.
Germany issued a press freedom alert, and a top EU official warned Twitter to abide by EU regulations or risk sanctions.
“Freedom of the press cannot be switched on and off as you please,” Germany’s foreign ministry tweeted on Friday. “As of today these journalists are no longer able to follow us, to comment or criticize. We have a problem with that @Twitter.”
Věra Jourová, the European Commission’s vice president for values and transparency, said the “arbitrary suspension” of journalists was “worrying,” and she indicated that the company could face penalties as a result.
“The EU’s Digital Services Act requires respect of media freedom and fundamental rights. This is reinforced under our #MediaFreedomAct,” Jourová said in a post on Twitter, adding that Musk “should be aware of that.”
“There are red lines,” she continued. “And sanctions, soon.”
On Thursday evening, Twitter banned the accounts of several high-profile journalists from top news organizations without explanation, including CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, The New York Times’ Ryan Mac and The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell.
Neither Musk nor Twitter responded to a request for comment Thursday evening, and the platform did not explain precisely why the journalists were barred from the platform.
Musk falsely claimed that the journalists had violated his new “doxxing” policy by sharing his live location, amounting to what he described as “assassination coordinates.” CNN’s O’Sullivan did not share the billionaire’s live location.
Shortly before his suspension, O’Sullivan reported on Twitter that the social media company had suspended the account of an emerging competitive social media service, Mastodon, which has allowed the continued posting of @ElonJet, an account that posts the location of Musk’s private jet.
Other reporters suspended Thursday had also recently written about the account.
European leaders previously said they were watching how Musk’s takeover of Twitter would affect the platform.
Thierry Breton, a top EU official, warned Musk in late November that the social media platform must take significant steps to comply with the bloc’s content moderation laws.
“Twitter will have to implement transparent user policies, significantly reinforce content moderation and protect freedom of speech, tackle disinformation with resolve, and limit targeted advertising,” Breton said at the time. “All of this requires sufficient AI and human resources, both in volumes and skills. I look forward to progress in all these areas and we will come to assess Twitter’s readiness on site.”
It appears that Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk made a significant effort to exert one-sided authority over the platform on Thursday evening when he abruptly banned the accounts of several prominent journalists from leading news organisations.
The accounts of Donie O’Sullivan of CNN, Ryan Mac of The New York Times, Drew Harwell of The Washington Post, and other journalists who have aggressively covered Musk in recent weeks have all been abruptly and permanently suspended. Additionally blocked was the account of progressive, independent journalist Aaron Rupar.
Musk falsely claimed that the journalists had violated his new “doxxing” policy by sharing his live location, amounting to what he described as “assassination coordinates.” CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan did not share the billionaire’s live location.
A beginner’s guide to Mastodon, the Twitter alternative that’s on 🔥
Shortly before his suspension, O’Sullivan reported on Twitter that the social media company had suspended the account of an emerging competitive social media service, Mastodon, which has allowed the continued posting of @ElonJet, an account that posts the updated location of Musk’s private jet.
Other reporters suspended Thursday had recently written about the account.
Doxxing refers to the practice of sharing someone’s home address or other personal information online. The banned account had instead used publicly available flight data, which remain online and accessible, to track Musk’s jet.
The bans raise a number of questions about the future of the platform, which has been referred to as a digital town square. It also called into serious question Musk’s supposed commitment to free speech.
Musk has repeatedly said he would like to permit all legal speech on the platform. In April, on the same day he announced he would purchase Twitter, he had tweeted: “I hope that even my worst critics remain on Twitter, because that is what free speech means.”
A CNN spokesperson said the company has asked Twitter for an explanation, and it would “reevaluate our relationship based on that response.”
“The impulsive and unjustified suspension of a number of reporters, including CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, is concerning but not surprising. Twitter’s increasing instability and volatility should be of incredible concern for everyone who uses Twitter,” the spokesperson said.
A New York Times spokesperson called the mass bans “questionable and unfortunate,” adding: “Neither The Times nor Ryan have received any explanation about why this occurred. We hope that all of the journalists’ accounts are reinstated and that Twitter provides a satisfying explanation for this action.”
“Elon says he is a free speech champion and he is banning journalists for exercising free speech,” Harwell told CNN on Thursday. “I think that calls into question his commitment.”
Rupar, too, said he had heard “nothing” from Twitter about the suspension.
Several organizations condemned Twitter’s decision, with the head of the American Civil Liberties Union saying: “It’s impossible to square Twitter’s free speech aspirations with the purging of critical journalists’ accounts.”
The president of the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) said in a statement it was “concerned” about the suspensions, and that the move “affects all journalists.”
Flight tracking controversy
The @ElonJet account, which had amassed more than 500,000 followers, was permanently suspended Wednesday after Twitter introduced a set of new policies banning accounts that track people’s live locations. Musk also blocked any account linking tosuch information. Previously, there were no location sharing-related restrictions on Twitter.
The changes came after Musk reinstated previous Twitter rule-breakers and stopped enforcing the platform’s policies prohibiting Covid-19 misinformation.
“I do think this is very important for the potential chilling impact this can have for freelance journalists, independent journalists around the world, particularly those who cover Elon Musk’s other companies, like Tesla and SpaceX,” O’Sullivan told CNN Thursday after his account was suspended.
As the furor over the account suspensions unfolded, some Twitter users reported the platform had begun intervening when they attempted to post links to their own profiles on alternative social networks, including Mastodon.
Those reports were confirmed Thursday evening by a CNN reporter who was blocked from sharing a Mastodon profile URL and was given an automated error message that said Twitter or its partners had identified the site as “potentially harmful.”
Twitter suddenly suspended a host of the nation’s preeminent tech journalists on Thursday, many of whom have reported about billionaire Elon Musk’s chaotic leadership at the social media giant in recent weeks.
The accounts for The New York Times’ Ryan Mac, The Washington Post’s Drew Harwell, CNN’s Donie O’Sullivan, Mashable’s Matt Binder and independent journalist Aaron Rupar all disappeared Thursday evening, as did several others.
All of those reporters have reported deeply about Musk’s $44 billion takeover of Twitter, the fallout after he laid off half of its employees and the company’s decision to ban, then un-ban, then re-ban an account that tracked Musk’s private plane flights.
Aaron Rupar told NBC’s Ben Collins he had “no idea” why the suspension happened. Other suspensions rolled in later in the evening, including for political commentator Keith Olbermann.
A message on the accounts simply says they have been suspended for violating Twitter’s rules.
Mac, writing from a secondary account on Twitter, said he was given “no warning” before the suspension and has not been contacted in any way by the company.
“I report on Twitter, Elon Musk and his companies,” Mac wrote. “And I will continue to do so.”
Journalists who cover Elon Musk have been suspended on Twitter tonight: @Donie O’Sullivan from CNN, Aaron Rupar and the Washington Post’s @drewharwell.
Twitter’s head of trust and safety, Ella Irwin, told the Verge the company wouldn’t comment on any specific suspensions but did say “we will suspend any accounts that violate our privacy policies and put other users at risk.”
“We don’t make exceptions to this policy for journalists or any other accounts,” Irwin said, pointing to Twitter’s updated policy of sharing “live location information.”
Twitter has already been drastically reshaped since Musk formally took ownership of the company in October. He has disbanded teams that address hate speech and civil rights abuses and demanded that the company update policies on the fly to target accounts and critics that irk him.
The New York Times reported this week that Musk and his advisers have been looking at stiffing former employees of severance pay in an effort to cut costs. Twitter also hasn’t paid rent for its San Francisco headquarters, or for many of its other global offices, in weeks, hoping to renegotiate lease terms.
It appears Elon Musk, the self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist,” has suspended an account that monitors his private jet.
CNBC reports @ElonJet was removed from the platform on Wednesday morning, just days after its owner, 20-year-old college student Jack Sweeney, claimed the account had been limited and restricted. Sweeney reportedly created the account in summer 2020, using publicly available, open-source data to track the billionaire tech mogul’s aircraft usage. He’s also the man behind @CelebJets, which uses the same sources to monitor the private jets of Drake, Mark Cuban, Jeff Bezos, Taylor Swift, and other stars.
Sweeney tweeted from his personal account Wednesday, “Well it appears @ElonJet is suspended. … This is coordinated and Elon is well aware I’m sure.”
About a week after acquiring Twitter for $44 billion, Muskinsisted he had no intention of removing Sweeney’s account from the platform.
“My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane,” he tweeted on Nov. 7, “even though that is a direct personal safety risk.”
As of Wednesday night, all of Sweeney’s accounts—including his personal one—had been suspended from Twitter. Musk explained the decision shortly after, saying: “Real-time posting of someone else’s location violates doxxing policy, but delayed posting of locations are ok.”
Sweeney, a sophomore at the University of Central Florida, expressed skepticism over the explanation, and said the move conflicted with Musk’s so-called commitment to free speech.
“If that was true, then it would have been suspended a month ago,” he told the Daily Beast. “They can bend the rules how they want to bend the rules for certain people. … [In] a town square, there’s, like, police, but you’re allowed to protest. But here…he’s literally just disabled the account.”
In early 2022, Protocol reported that Musk had offered Sweeney $5,000 to remove @ElonJet because of security concerns. The then-19-year-old claimed he rejected the offer, but said he would delete the account in exchange for an internship. Musk reportedly blocked him shortly after.
Sweeney said he will continue to monitor Musk’s private jet and post the data on the social networking service Mastodon.
The Twitter Safety account shared tweets on the matter on Wednesday as well:
A portion of the remarks reads, “When someone shares an individual’s live location on Twitter, there is an increased risk of physical harm. Moving forward, we’ll remove Tweets that share this information, and accounts dedicated to sharing someone else’s live location will be suspended.”
After a significant decline in the value of his shares in the electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla this year, Elon Musk is no longer the richest man in the world.
According to Forbes and Bloomberg, Bernard Arnault, the head of luxury goods company LVMH, has surpassed Elon Musk for the top spot. Mr. Musk previously held that position.
Mr. Musk is Tesla’s CEO and the company’s largest shareholder, with a reported 14% stake.
In October, he finished a $44 billion takeover of the social media site Twitter.
Forbes estimates that Mr. Musk is now worth about $178 billion (£152 billion).
In contrast, Bernard Arnault is worth $188 billion.
Mr Musk’s Twitter deal was only completed after months of legal wrangling, and some have cited the distraction of the takeover as one of the factors behind Tesla’s share price fall.
After building a stake in Twitter at the start of the year, Mr Musk made his $44bn offer in April, although many considered this offer to be too high.
In July, he pulled out of the deal, citing concerns over the number of fake accounts on the platform.
Eventually Twitter executives took legal action to hold Mr Musk to his offer.
Dan Ives from investment firm Wedbush Securities said the “circus” surrounding the Twitter deal has weighed on Tesla’s share price.
“Musk has gone from a superhero to Tesla’s stock, to a villain in the eyes of the Street, as the overhang grows with each tweet,” he told the BBC.
“The Twitter circus show has hurt the Musk brand andit’s a major overhang on Tesla’s stock. Musk is Tesla and Tesla is Musk.”
Mr Musk sold billions of dollars worth of Tesla shares to help fund his purchase, which helped to push the shares down.
Investors have also been concerned that demand for the company’s electric cars may slow, as the economy weakens, higher borrowing costs discourage buyers and other companies boost their electric vehicle offerings.
Tesla has also been hit by recalls, as well as government probes of crashes and its autopilot feature.
On Monday, Twitter’s paid verification feature will be available once more. It was halted last month after being inundated with impersonators.
It is still $8 per month, but there is a $11 fee for those who use the Twitter app on Apple devices.
Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, has previously stated in tweets that he dislikes the commission fee Apple charges on in-app purchases.
One of Twitter Blue’s extra features is an edit button.
This has long been a feature requested by many Twitter users, although there are others who argue that it increases the potential for the spread of disinformation, if a tweet is altered after being widely shared.
Blue-tick subscribers will also see fewer ads, have their tweets amplified above others, and be able to post and view longer, better quality videos, the platform says.
Previously a blue tick was used as verification tool for high-profile accounts as a badge of authenticity. It was given out by Twitter for free – but only the firm itself decided who got one.
Mr Musk argues that this was unfair.
Those who had a blue tick under the previous regime currently still have them, but now some of these users also have a message which appears if the tick is pressed saying the account is a “legacy verified account” and “may or may not be notable”.
However, those check marks will now eventually be replaced with either gold (for businesses) or grey (for others such as authorities) badges, according to Twitter’s own account.
Under the new system, subscribers who change their names or display photos will lose their blue tick until the account has been reviewed by Twitter.
Fake accounts
The service had a chaotic initial launch in November, when people started impersonating big brands and celebrities and paying for the blue-tick badge in order to make them look authentic.
Many pretended to be Elon Musk himself.
In one instance, a user claiming to be the US pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly tweeted “insulin is free”, causing the real firm’s share price to tumble – however, Eli Lilly has since agreed that insulin prices could indeed be lower.
Having said that, anecdotally, quite a few accounts appeared to take the opportunity to subscribe for legitimate reasons.
Twitter changes
Elon Musk has made a number of sweeping changes since he took over Twitter at the end of October after buying it for $44bn (£38bn).
He said the firm was operating at a loss of $4m per day, and that it needed to become profitable.
He has laid-off around half its workforce, introduced bedrooms at Twitter HQ in San Francisco for the remaining staff working long hours, and begun re-instating controversial banned accounts, including the rapper Ye (Kanye West), former US president Donald Trump and influencer Andrew Tate.
Mr Musk also says Twitter accounts which have been inactive for a certain period of time will be deleted. This has caused dismay among those who say they cherish the accounts of loved ones who have died.
Film director Rod Lurie tweeted that his “heart was broken” at the thought of the account of his late son, Hunter, disappearing.
Unlike Facebook, Twitter users cannot nominate someone to take control of their account after their death although state executors can contact the firm with requests.
Elon Musk has responded to rumors that Twitter had converted workplace space into sleeping quarters, criticizing claims that San Francisco police may be looking into such developments.
According to a Forbes report on Monday, employees were met this week with what the publication’s sources billed as “modest bedrooms featuring unmade mattresses, drab curtains and giant conference-room telepresence monitors.” The report noted this setup marked a noticeable improvement in comparison to the sleeping bag-esque environment previously documented on social media, perhaps most prominently in the widely shared tweet below from last month.
More recently, regional Bay Area outlet KQED reported that city building inspector officials were launching an investigation, as did the Washington Post. The latter cited a Department of Building Inspection spokesperson as stating the intention of such an inquiry is to ensure a space is being “used as intended,” adding that “no one is above the law.”
In a response shared to Twitter, which has made headlines in recent months for no longer enforcing a COVID-19 misinformation policy and for firing a slew of workers, Musk framed the situation as “providing beds for tired employees” before very Republicanishly trying to steer the conversation toward fentanyl. He also tagged San Francisco Mayor London Breed in the post.
Image via Twitter
Complex has reached out to reps for San Francisco’s Department of Building Inspection for additional comment. This story may be updated. As for reaching out to Twitter, there’s seemingly no point in doing that anymore.
Meanwhile, Musk’s brain-computer interface company Neuralink has been reported to be facing a federal investigation over alleged Animal Welfare Act violations.
Cleaners at Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco have told the BBC they were sacked without severance pay.
One of them told the BBC a member of Elon Musk’s team had said their jobs would be replaced by robots.
A California state senator said Mr Musk was treating the former staff “like garbage”.
San Francisco’s city attorney, David Chiu, said he’s investigating if Mr Musk broke the law. Twitter has not responded to a BBC request for comment.
“Elon Musk has had a long history of flouting labour laws,” Mr Chiu told the BBC.
“While I’m not surprised this happened, I feel for these workers. We will be looking into this further.”
Image caption, Juana Laura Chavero Ramirez says she might not be able to afford her diabetic medication
The BBC spoke to four cleaners who say they were fired from Twitter on Monday – their interviews were conducted in Spanish.
Adrianna Villarreal, who worked for Twitter for four years, said she’s now worried she won’t have enough money to feed her family over Christmas.
“It’s a sad and frustrating thing for our families and children,” she said.
The cleaners were working at Twitter last week until they were told their jobs were under threat.
Olga Miranda, president of the cleaners’ union, said they organised a strike on Monday to protest. The cleaners were then told they had been laid off effective immediately, she says.
“They did this three weeks before Christmas,” she said. “I think we were fired because we’re a union.”
Image caption, Adrianna Villarreal says she’s worried about how to buy Christmas gifts for her children
Julio Alvarado had been a cleaner for 10 years at Twitter. He says the environment was always friendly during his time there.
But he says things changed when Elon Musk took over Twitter in October.
“People worked without worries,” he told the BBC. “Now we are afraid.”
Since Mr Musk acquired the company, Mr Alvarado says he was escorted by private security while cleaning parts of the office.
He also says he was told by someone from Mr Musk’s team that his job would be obsolete soon anyway because robots would eventually replace human cleaners.
Without his job, Mr Alvarado says he’s worried about paying his bills. He also says he’s supporting his family back in Mexico.
“I can only tell you, I don’t have money to pay the rent,” he says. “I’m not going to have medical insurance. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
Juana Laura Chavero Ramirez said she had worked for five years at Twitter. A diabetic, she’s concerned she won’t be able to get her medication.
“It’s just horrible,” she said. “We’re not only losing our job, we’re losing our income.”
Adrianna Villarreal, who had worked at Twitter since 2018, said she was worried she would not be able to afford Christmas gifts.
“We are supposed to have Christmas presents for our children,” she said, “a plate of food on our table and overnight we don’t have anything.”
The cleaners say they do not know what to do – as there are few available cleaning vacancies in San Francisco at the moment.
A small group of cleaners have protested outside San Francisco’s Twitter headquarters since Monday.
California state senator Scott Wiener told the BBC the cleaners had been treated “horribly”.
“In the short term, I’d like to see him [Elon Musk] treat his janitors like human beings,” said Mr Wiener, “and get them back working – not just throw them out right before Christmas.”
The BBC has obtained photos of Twitter office spacethat has been converted into bedrooms, which San Francisco authorities are investigating as a possible violation of building codes.
One image shows a room with a double bed, a wardrobe, and slippers.
According to an ex-employee, new Twitter CEO Elon Musk has been staying at the company’s headquarters since he purchased it.
He emailed all Twitter employees last month, saying they “will need to be extremely hardcore” to succeed.
San Francisco’s Department of Building Inspection has confirmed it is investigating potential violations following a complaint.
Mr Musk said the city was attacking companies for providing beds to “tired employees”.
In a now-deleted tweet, Mr Musk posted that he would work and sleep in the office “until the org is fixed”.
The BBC has also been given pictures of sofas at Twitter being used as beds.
Image caption, Former staff say wardrobes have been moved into Twitter’s HQ
“It looks like a hotel room,” said one former worker. They went on to say that Mr Musk regularly sleeps at the Twitter HQ in San Francisco.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the BBC.
Last month Mr Musk – who completed his Twitter takeover in October – emailed all staff at the company saying they would need to work “long hours at high intensity”.
California state senator Scott Wiener told the BBC on Wednesday: “He’s now making them [workers] sleep at Twitter.
“It’s clear that he doesn’t really care about people. He doesn’t care about the people who work for him.”
A Department of Building Inspection official told the BBC’s US partner CBS News: ‘We need to make sure the building is being used as intended.”
Image caption, Two sofas with bedding on them
In a reply to a journalist on Twitter, Mr Musk posted that the city should prioritise protecting children from the consequences of opioid drug misuse.
‘Office armchairs’
Forbes broke the story of “sad little conference-room sleeping quarters at the company’s recently depopulated headquarters”, noting it was an apparent improvement on the improvised sleeping-bag-on-the-floor arrangement posted on Twitter by one employee.
The bedrooms, Bloomberg reported, are also said to accommodate staff from Tesla and other Musk-owned businesses brought in to work at Twitter, “some of whom travel to Twitter for work meetings”, sources told the publication.
Department of Building Inspection official Patrick Hannan told the San Francisco Chronicle it investigated all complaints and there were different rules for residential buildings, even those used for short-term stays.
In May 2020, before Mr Musk’s takeover, Twitter told employees they could work from home “forever” if they so wished because its remote-working measures during Covid lockdowns had been a success.
Kanye Westhas been suspended from Twitter and accused of “inciting violence” over offensive tweets – just two months after his last ban.
The US rapper, who now goes by the name Ye, posted a series of erratic tweets – one of which appeared to show a symbol combining a swastika and a Jewish star.
Twitter’s new boss Elon Musk was asked by one user to “fix Kanye”.
West had “violated our rule against incitement to violence”, Musk tweeted.
“Account will be suspended,” Musk wrote in a Twitter post.
Also on Thursday, during an interview with US conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and with his face covered in a mask, West praised Nazi leader Adolf Hitler and ranted about sin, pornography and the devil.
West has for years caused controversy both on- and offline with anti-Semitic and racist remarks.
West was initially locked out of his Twitter and Instagram accounts after posting anti-Semitic messages in October. Both platforms removed West’s posts – which accused rapper Diddy of being controlled by Jewish people – saying the star had violated policies on hate speech.
These posts came in response to a backlash against his show at Paris Fashion Week, where he wore a t-shirt carrying the slogan “White Lives Matter”.
The Anti-Defamation League branded his phrase “hate speech” and attributed it to white supremacists, who began using it in 2015 in response to the Black Lives Matter movement.
Earlier this year, West was suspended from Instagram for 24 hours in March after using a racial slur in reference to comedian Trevor Noah.
In 2018, singer Will.i.am led a backlash against West after he claimed the enslavement of African Americans over centuries may have been a “choice” – remarks he later tried to clarify.
His latest Twitter ban comes hours after the right-wing social media platform Parler – which styles itself as a “free speech” alternative to mainstream platforms – said West could no longer buy the firm.
In a statement, Parlement Technologies said: “The company has mutually agreed with Ye to terminate the intent of sale.”
The firm – which runs the much smaller platform, popular with conservatives and the far right – said the decision was made in mid-November.
“Parler will continue to pursue future opportunities for growth and the evolution of the platform for our vibrant community,” the firm said in its statement.
Musk took control over Twitter in October and immediately embarked on a series of radical changes within the social media giant – including lifting the bans on controversial accounts.
He has clarified that he had no role in bringing West back on Twitter, saying the account was restored before he acquired the social media platform.
West was diagnosed with bipolar disorder years ago and has publicly spoken about his challenges with his mental health.
However, medical experts and people who share West’s condition have warned that mental health problems do not go hand-in-hand with anti-Semitism.
Elon Muskhas stated that he and Apple CEO Tim Cook have “resolved the misunderstanding” regarding Twitter’s possible removal from the app store.
On Monday, Mr Musk accused Apple of threatening to remove the platform from its app store and announced that the company had halted the majority of its advertising on the site.
However, the Twitter CEO stated on Wednesday, “Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.”
He did not specify whether Apple’s advertising was discussed during the meeting.
The meeting between the two tech titans comes as many businesses have stopped spending on Twitter due to concerns about Mr Musk’s content moderation plans for the site – a major setback for the company, which relies on such spending for the majority of its revenue.
Entering a feud on Monday, Mr Musk accused Apple of “censorship” and criticised its policies, including the charge it levies on purchases made on its app store.
“Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?” he said.
But he later told his followers he was meeting with Mr Cook at Apple’s headquarters, adding: “Good conversation. Among other things, we resolved the misunderstanding about Twitter potentially being removed from the App Store. Tim was clear that Apple never considered doing so.”
News of the meeting with Apple came after Mr Musk was told he faced “huge work ahead” to bring Twitter into compliance with new European Union rules on disinformation or face a possible ban.
EU commissioner Thierry Breton made the comments in a meeting with Mr Musk on Wednesday, saying the social media site would have to address issues such as content moderation, disinformation and targeted adverts.
Approved by the EU earlier this year, the Digital Services Actis seen as the biggest overhaul of rules governing online activity in decades, imposing new obligations on companies to prevent abuse of their platforms.
Major companies are expected to be in compliance with the law some time next year.
If firms are found to be violation, they face fines of up to 6% of global turnover – or a ban in the case of repeated serious breaches.
In a statement after the meeting, Mr Breton said he welcomed Mr Musk’s assurances that he would get Twitter ready to comply.
“Let’s also be clear that there is still huge work ahead, as Twitter will have to implement transparent user policies, significantly reinforce content moderation and protect freedom of speech, tackle disinformation with resolve, and limit targeted advertising,” he said.
“All of this requires sufficient AI [Artificial Intelligence] and human resources, both in volumes and skills. I look forward to progress in all these areas and we will come to assess Twitter’s readiness on site.”
The EU plans to conduct a “stress test” in 2023 ahead of a wider audit, his office said.
Since his $44bn takeover of Twitter last month, Mr Musk has fired thousands of staff, reinstated formerly banned users such as Donald Trump and stopped enforcing other policies, such as rules aimed at stopping misleading information on coronavirus.
The moves have alarmed some civil rights groups, who have accused the billionaire of taking steps that will increase hate speech, misinformation and abuse.
In a blog post on Wednesday, Twitter said none of its policies had changed, but that it was experimenting in an effort to improve the platform more quickly and would rely more on steps to limit the spread of material that violate its rules – offering “freedom of speech but not freedom of reach”.
“Our trust & safety team continues its diligent work to keep the platform safe from hateful conduct, abusive behavior, and any violation of Twitter’s rules,” the company added.
“The team remains strong and well-resourced, and automated detectionplays an increasingly important role in eliminating abuse,” it said.
In a series of tweets on Monday, Elon Musk said that Apple Inc (AAPL.O) had threatened to ban Twitter Inc from its app store without providing any explanation.
He also claimed that the iPhone manufacturer had ceased running advertisements on the social networking site.
The wealthy CEO of Twitter and Tesla claimed Apple was putting pressure on Twitter regarding requirements for content control.
Apple has not confirmed the action, but it would not be out of the ordinary given that it regularly enforces its policies and has already deleted apps like Parler and Gab.
Apple reinstated Parler in 2021 after the app updated its content and moderation procedures, the companies said at the time. Parler is a favorite among American conservatives.
“Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?,” Musk, who took Twitter private for $44 billion last month, said in a tweet.
He later tagged Apple Chief Executive Officer, Tim Cook’s Twitter account in another tweet, asking “what’s going on here?”
Apple did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“It wasn’t clear to me how far up the Apple food chain that idea went internally and without knowing that, it isn’t clear how seriously to take any of this,” said Randal Picker, a professor at the University of Chicago Law School.
According to ad measurement company Pathmatics, the most valuable company in the world spent less on Twitter advertisements between Nov. 10 and Nov. 16 than it did in the week before Musk signed the Twitter transaction, when it spent $220,800 between Oct. 16 and Oct. 22.
According to the Washington Post, which cited an internal Twitter document, Apple was the biggest advertiser on Twitter in the first quarter of 2022, spending $48 million and contributing to more than 4% of overall revenue during that time.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the report.
The up to 30% commission Apple charges software developers for in-app purchases was one of the complaints Musk listed on Twitter. Musk posted a meme implying he was prepared to “go to war” with Apple rather than pay the commission.
Companies like Epic Games, the developer of “Fortnite,” have criticized and sued the fee, and it has garnered the attention of regulators throughout the world.
Musk’s efforts to increase Twitter’s subscription fees, in part to offset advertisers’ flight due to concerns over content moderation, may be hindered by the commission.
Since the acquisition, businesses ranging from General Mills Inc (GIS.N) to luxury carmaker Audi of America have discontinued or suspended their Twitter advertising, and Musk claimed earlier this month that the company had experienced a “massive” decline in revenue.
About 90% of Twitter’s revenue comes from ad sales.
The self-described “absolutist” of free expression, whose business has restored multiple Twitter accounts, including that of former US President Donald Trump, has accused activist groups of exerting pressure on advertising.
Ben Bajarin, the director of consumer technology at the research firm Creative Strategies, suggested that Musk might be interpreting Apple’s app review procedure too broadly.
According to what he heard, it is a two-way interaction. “App approval from Apple is not flawless by any means and a continually frustrating process for developers,” he said.
Elon Musk has said Apple has halted most of its advertising on Twitter and accused the company of threatening to remove the platform from its app store.
The feud comes as many companies have halted spending on Twitter amid concerns about Mr Musk’s content moderation plans for the site.
Apple has not responded to requests for comment from the BBC.
Mr Musk has said Twitter has seen a “massive” drop in revenue, blaming activists for pressuring advertisers.
In a series of Tweets on Monday, he accused Apple of “censorship” and criticised its policies, including the charge it levies on purchases made on its app store.
“Apple has mostly stopped advertising on Twitter. Do they hate free speech in America?” he said.
He appealed directly to Apple’s CEO – asking: “What’s going on here @tim_cook?”
The owner of the social media platform also claimed Apple had threatened to withhold Twitter from its app store, but did not say why.
Mr Musk, who purchased Twitter for $44bn last month, is under pressure as some companies halt spending.
He has said he hopes to make money by turning Twitter verification into a paid subscription service, but currently the vast majority of the site’s revenue comes from advertising.
The Washington Post reported Apple was the top advertiser on Twitter, spending $48m on ads on the social network in the first quarter of 2022.
Companies including Cheerios maker General Mills and Volkswagen are among the firms that have halted their spending in recent weeks.
Media Matters, a watchdog site, reported last week that half of Twitter’s top advertisers had pulled their advertising on Twitter after concerns about the direction of Twitter.
Apple’s media agency Omnicom recommended the Silicon Valley giant pause advertising on the platform out of concern for Apple’s “brand safety”, according to US tech site The Verge.
Elon Musk squares up to Apple
Elon Musk has worked out who really holds the power over social media companies.
The billionaire famously doesn’t like being told what to do. And yet Apple holds all the cards when it comes to Twitter.
Firstly, as others have found out, only Apple decides who’s allowed on the App Store. If Apple wanted to, it could stop Twitter from being downloaded on iPhones around the world – which would be a devastating blow for Twitter.
Not only that but Apple can also charge what it likes for the privilege of being on the App Store. For companies like Twitter, it can charge anywhere from 15-30% for in-app purchases.
That charge has been challenged in the US courts by Fortnite producer Epic Games. In 2021, the company sued over Apple’s commission for access to their “walled garden”, as the App Store is referred to in the case.
Lastly, Apple has the power to stop advertising on Twitter – an important source of revenue for the company.
Mr Musk isn’t the first to flag this power imbalance. Meta has for years complained about the dominance Apple holds over its Instagram and Facebook apps.
But in Mr Musk, Apple now has another powerful and very rich adversary.
In picking a fight with Apple, Mr Musk is wading into a wider debate over the clout that Apple wields over online activity via its app store, which is the way that iPhone owners download games and other apps.
As it stands, Apple could take up to 30% of the money from the monthly fee Twitter plans to charge some users.
On Twitter, Mr Musk posted a meme saying “pay 30%. Go To War” with an arrow pointing to the latter.
All companies listed in the app store have to abide by Apple’s rules and pay its fees, or face removal or suspension.
Last year Apple suspended social media platform Parler from the store, saying it didn’t do enough to remove hate speech.
Apple later restored Parler after the company updated its policies.
Billionaire Elon Musk will support Ron DeSantis if the Florida governor were to run for president in 2024.
On Friday, Musk took to Twitter to share his thoughts on the 2024 race, writing, “My preference for the 2024 presidency is someone sensible and centrist. I had hoped that would the case for the Biden administration, but have been disappointed so far.”
When asked if he would support DeSantis in 2024, Musk replied, “Yes.”
The Twitter CEO added that he was a “significant supporter” of the Obama-Biden presidency, reminding followers that he “voted for Biden over Trump.”
Prior to pledging his support of DeSantis, Musk commented on his recent decision to reactivate former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account, which was banned nearly two years ago after Trump encouraged the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection.
“I’m fine with Trump not tweeting. The important thing is that Twitter correct a grave mistake in banning his account, despite no violation of the law or terms of service,” Musk wrote. “Deplatforming a sitting President undermined public trust in Twitter for half of America.”
Despite his account being reinstated, Trump claims he has “no reason” to return to Twitter. “I don’t see any reason for it, they have a lot of problems at Twitter, you see what’s going on. It may make it, it may not make it,” Trump said during the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership meeting this week.
Elon Musk says Twitter will provide a “general amnesty” to some suspended accounts from next week.
This came after he started a poll on Wednesday asking Twitter users whether accounts that had “not broken the law or engaged in egregious spam” should be let back on the social media platform.
Several accounts, such as that of former US President Donald Trump, have already been reinstated by Mr Musk.
The world’s richest man bought Twitter for $44bn (£36.3bn) last month.
More than 3.1m Twitter users responded to Mr Musk’s poll, with 72.4% of them voting “Yes”.
“The people have spoken. Amnesty begins next week,” Mr Musk, who has 118.7m followers on the platform, later tweeted.
He also used a Latin phrase which translates to “the voice of the people is the voice of God”.
Mr Musk did not give details on how the amnesty process would be carried out.
On Saturday, he reinstated the account of Donald Trump, after running a poll in which users narrowly backed the move.
But the former US president may not return to the platform, as he said “I don’t see any reason for it”.
He has announced plans to run again for the US presidency in 2024.
His Twitter account was suspended in 2021 on grounds that it risked inciting violence, after Trump supporters had stormed the US Capitol.
Mr Musk has also reactivated the Twitter accounts of rapper Ye (formerly Kanye West) and influencer Andrew Tate.
Infowars host Jones has been forced to pay $1.44bn in damages after falsely and repeatedly claiming that the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting in the US, in which 20 children and six adults were killed, was a hoax.
Mr Musk wrote that his own child had died, and that he “had no mercy” for anyone who “would use the deaths of children for gain, politics or fame”.
Previously he said no decision about banned accounts would be made until a moderation board had been appointed.
Mr Musk completed his $44bn purchase of Twitter on 28 October after months of wrangling.
He has since laid off half of the firm’s 7,500-strong workforce, and hundreds more staff are believed to have left, following an email saying that long hours and “hardcore” work would be required of those who remained.
ElonMusk admitted to his Twitter staff that the platform’s Content Moderation Council is all for show and that at the end of the day he decides what gets posted.
In a video obtained by TMZ, Musk is seen addressing his staff in a Saturday Zoom meeting, where he informs them he has the final say over content shared on Twitter. He added that any evidence to the contrary is “simply not true.”
“I wanna just be clear about, we are gonna do a content council, but it’s an advisory council,” Musk said. “They’re not the ones who actually—at the end of the day it will be me deciding it and any pretense to the contrary is simply not true. Because at the end of the day I can choose who’s on it, that content council, and I don’t need to listen to what they say.”
The leaked video comes as Kanye West and most notably Donald Trump have been welcomed back to Twitter in recent days. Ye had been suspended from the platform following an antisemitic tweet in October, and addressed his 32 million followers by tweeting “Shalom” on Sunday, a Hebrew greeting. As for the ex-POTUS, his account was banned in 2021 following the Capitol riot.
When confirming Trump’s suspension in a public statement, Twitter said it had “permanently” barred the account because of a risk of “further incitement of violence.” Trump has yet to take advantage of his reinstated account.
Despite those reinstatements, Musk said he wouldn’t allow Infowars founder Alex Jones to return to Twitter, after he was banned in 2018.
When asked whether Musk would allow Jones to return, he simply tweeted “no” and when asked why, said he had “no mercy” for those who “use the deaths of children.”
Lawyer for Twitteremployees who were fired by Elon Musk has revealed that the company has reached out to the former employees after a threat to sue over discrimination.
An international reporter reporter, Larry Madowo received confirmation from the anonymous lawyer that the business had “finally agreed to talk with the laid-off Africa staff.”
Madowo, who has been keenly reporting on the story, reiterated in a November 22 tweet, that the redundant staff “weren’t offered severance until CNN reported” their plight and that they weren’t “allowed to negotiate their separation terms until” CNN report was aired.
Africa office closed down four days after opening
The Africa office was closed four days after employees who had over the last year been working remotely converged at the Africa Headquarters located in Ghana.
They initiated legal action against the new owner of the platform, Elon Musk, over discrimination and the imbalance in the severance pay they were offered compared to others who were laid off in the United States and Europe upon his takeover.
Madowo revealed the contents of their termination emails in his earlier reports, which read in part: “The company is reorganizing its operations as a result of a need to reduce costs. It is with regret that we’re writing to inform you that your employment is terminating as a result of this exercise.
“Your last day of employment will be 4th December 2022. You will be placed on garden leave until your termination date,” the November 4 letter read.
Watch the GhanaWeb Excellence Awards nominees reveal video below:
The staff hired a lawyer who was on the verge of suing the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, over this matter. They also reported Twitter to the Chief Labour Officer in Ghana over breaches in the way their appointments were terminated.
“It is clear that Twitter, under Elon Musk, is either deliberately or recklessly flouting the laws of Ghana, is operating in bad faith and in a manner that seeks to silence and intimidate former employees into accepting any terms unilaterally thrown at them.
“Without pressure from higher authorities, they are clearly not willing to provide a fair or just package in order to minimize the hardship of this takeover and the resulting loss of jobs on their workforce in Africa.”
A CNN Africa reporter called Larry Madowo received confirmation from the unnamed lawyer that the business had “finally agreed to talk with the laid-off Africa staff.”
In a tweet on November 22, Madowo, who has been closely following the topic, repeated that the laid-off employees “weren’t offered severance until CNN highlighted” their predicament and that they “weren’t allowed to discuss their separation conditions until” CNN article was aired.
They initiated legal action against the new owner of the platform, Elon Musk, over discrimination and the imbalance in the severance pay they were offered compared to others who were laid off in the United States and Europe upon his takeover.
Madowo revealed the contents of their termination emails in his earlier reports, which read in part: “The company is reorganizing its operations as a result of a need to reduce costs. It is with regret that we’re writing to inform you that your employment is terminating as a result of this exercise.
“Your last day of employment will be 4th December 2022. You will be placed on garden leave until your termination date,” the November 4 letter read.
“It is clear that Twitter, under Elon Musk, is either deliberately or recklessly flouting the laws of Ghana, is operating in bad faith and in a manner that seeks to silence and intimidate former employees into accepting any terms unilaterally thrown at them.
“Without pressure from higher authorities, they are clearly not willing to provide a fair or just package in order to minimize the hardship of this takeover and the resulting loss of jobs on their workforce in Africa.”
Lawyer for Twitter Africa employees who were laid-off earlier this month by the social media giant has confirmed that the company has reached out to the former employees after a threat to sue over discrimination.
The unnamed lawyer confirmed to a CNN Africa journalist, Larry Madowo, that the company had “finally agreed to negotiate with the laid-off Africa team.”
Madowo, who has been keenly reporting on the story, reiterated in a November 22 tweet, that the redundant staff “weren’t offered severance until CNN reported” their plight and that they weren’t “allowed to negotiate their separation terms until” CNN report was aired.
Africa office closed down four days after opening
The Africa office was closed four days after employees who had over the last year been working remotely converged at the Africa Headquarters located in Ghana.
They initiated legal action against the new owner of the platform, Elon Musk, over discrimination and the imbalance in the severance pay they were offered compared to others who were laid off in the United States and Europe upon his takeover.
Madowo revealed the contents of their termination emails in his earlier reports, which read in part: “The company is reorganizing its operations as a result of a need to reduce costs. It is with regret that we’re writing to inform you that your employment is terminating as a result of this exercise.
“Your last day of employment will be 4th December 2022. You will be placed on garden leave until your termination date,” the November 4 letter read.
Watch the GhanaWeb Excellence Awards nominees reveal video below:
The staff hired a lawyer who was on the verge of suing the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, over this matter. They also reported Twitter to the Chief Labour Officer in Ghana over breaches in the way their appointments were terminated.
“It is clear that Twitter, under Elon Musk, is either deliberately or recklessly flouting the laws of Ghana, is operating in bad faith and in a manner that seeks to silence and intimidate former employees into accepting any terms unilaterally thrown at them.
“Without pressure from higher authorities, they are clearly not willing to provide a fair or just package in order to minimize the hardship of this takeover and the resulting loss of jobs on their workforce in Africa.”
When compared to other microblogging site competitors in other countries, such the US, where proper outlines of severance payouts have been provided to the fired employees, this is to be understood.
It should be recalled that at the beginning of November 2022, just a few days after the Twitter Africa office in Accra began conducting business physically, all of the personnel received termination notices via their personal emails.
The CNN’s Larry Madowo reported that this was because the Twitter Africa staff had been locked out of their work emails as well as from accessing their working machines.
“Your last day of employment will be 4th December 2022. You will be placed on garden leave until your termination date,” the termination notices to them on November 4 read.
The earlier story also indicated that unlike other staff of Twitter in other locations of the world, the Africa staff received no indications of severances.
“At least for the African staff, that email did not even mention them by name; it just said ‘see attached.’ And even though Elon Musk said everybody who got fired would be getting at least three months severance above the law – that’s in the US, those in Africa office didn’t get a next step, or if they’re going to get any severance at all, which some lawyers in Ghana are now pointing out could be a violation of Ghanaian employment law,” Larry Madowo added.
But an updated report by CNN has said that the displeased sacked Africa staff want fairness in the severances they are being offered.
“They are asking to be treated the same way Twitter treated employees who were departing in the US and Europe; they want three months severance pay like Elon promised and other relevant benefits: stock investing, continued healthcare, and that sort of thing.
“But they feel that’s not happened; they have not been treated the same way as everyone at Twitter,” he stated.
The journalist also reported that it was only after CNN’s first report on this subject that Twitter offered the Africa staff severance pays.
He added that the team got personal emails that claimed to give them what they called “Ghana mutual separation agreement and it offered a certain figure. They say this email claims to have been arrived at after a negotiation with the staff but they say they have actually never negotiated with anyone at Twitter.
“In fact, they don’t even have a way to contact anyone at Twitter because their emails keep bouncing back. So, they’ve rejected that severance pay offer, they have hired a lawyer and have written a demand notice to Twitter, asking Twitter to comply with Ghanaian employment laws.”
The Africa staff of Twitter have also petitioned the Ministry of Employment in Ghana to compel Twitter to do the right thing, he added.
Here is a portion of that notice to the authorities in Ghana:
“It is clear that Twitter, under Elon Musk, is either deliberately or recklessly flouting the laws of Ghana, is operating in bad faith and in a manner that seeks to silence and intimidate former employees into accepting any terms unilaterally thrown at them.
“Without pressure from higher authorities, they are clearly not willing to provide a fair or just package in order to minimize the hardship of this takeover and resulting loss of jobs on their workforce in Africa.”
It is worth mentioning that the Twitter Africa staff includes some employees who were hired from Nigeria and other countries and they want to be paid to move back to their countries.
The employees of the Twitter Africa office in Ghana have initiated steps to take legal action against their employer, Elon Musk, over the imbalance in the severance pay they have been offered.
This is in comparison to other colleagues of the microblogging site in other parts of the world, like the United States, where a proper outline of severance packages have been offered to the sacked employees.
It would be recalled that at the start of November 2022, just a few days after the Twitter Africa office started physical operations from its location in Accra, all the staff of the office received termination notifications via their personal emails.
The CNN’s Larry Madowo reported that this was so because the Twitter Africa staff had been locked out of their work emails as well as from accessing their working machines.
“The company is reorganizing its operations as a result of a need to reduce costs. It is with regret that we’re writing to inform you that your employment is terminating as a result of this exercise.
“Your last day of employment will be 4th December, 2022. You will be placed on garden leave until your termination date,” the termination notices to them on November 4 read.
The earlier story also indicated that unlike other staff of Twitter in other locations of the world, the Africa staff received no indications of severances.
“At least for the African staff, that email did not even mention them by name; it just said ‘see attached.’ And even though Elon Musk said everybody who got fired would be getting at least three months severance above the law – that’s in the US, those in Africa office didn’t get a next step, or if they’re going to get any severance at all, which some lawyers in Ghana are now pointing out could be a violation of Ghanaian employment law,” Larry Madowo added.
But in an updated report by the CNN, it has said that the displeased sacked Africa staff want fairness in the severances they are being offered.
The staff have since taken a lawyer who is on the verge of suing the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, over this matter, Larry has said.
“They are asking to be treated the same way Twitter treated employees who were departing in the US and Europe; they want three months severance pay like Elon promised and other relevant benefits: stock investing, continued healthcare, and that sort of thing.
“But they feel that’s not happened; they have not been treated the same way as everyone at Twitter,” he stated.
The journalist also reported that it was only after the CNN’s first report on this subject that Twitter offered the Africa staff a severance pays.
He added that the team got personal emails that claimed to give them what they called “Ghana mutual separation agreement and it offered a certain figure. They say this email claims to have been arrived at after a negotiation with the staff but they say they have actually never negotiated with anyone at Twitter.
“In fact, they don’t even have a way to contact anyone at Twitter because their emails keep bouncing back. So, they’ve rejected that severance pay offer, they have hired a lawyer and have written a demand notice to Twitter, asking Twitter to comply with Ghanaian employment laws.”
The Africa staff of Twitter have also petitioned the Ministry of Employment in Ghana to compel Twitter to do the right thing, he added.
Here is a portion of that notice to the authorities in Ghana:
“It is clear that Twitter, under Elon Musk, is either deliberately or recklessly flouting the laws of Ghana, is operating in bad faith and in a manner that seeks to silence and intimidate former employees into accepting any terms unilaterally thrown at them.
“Without pressure from higher authorities, they are clearly not willing to provide a fair or just package in order to minimize the hardship of this takeover and resulting loss of jobs on their workforce in Africa.”
It is worth mentioning that the Twitter Africa staff includes some employees who were hired from Nigeria and other countries and they want to be paid to move back to their countries.
ElonMusk has reinstated former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account.
The move came after Musk polled his 117 million followers with the final results being 51.8 percent who voted “yes” and 48.2 percent who voted “no.” The final results tallied votes from 15,085,458 people.
Musk has previously restored Kathy Griffin, the Babylon Bee, and Jorden Peterson who all have active Twitter accounts now.
He also mentioned that Twitter’s new policy since he took over as owner is “freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach. Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter. You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out, which is no different from rest of Internet.”
In a statement, NAACP President Derrick Johnson wrote after learning of Trump returning to Twitter: “In Elon Musk’s Twittersphere, you can incite an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, which led to the deaths of multiple people, and still be allowed to spew hate speech and violent conspiracies on his platform. If Elon Musk continues to run Twitter like this, using garbage polls that do not represent the American people and the needs of our democracy, God help us all.”
Trump announced on Nov. 15 that he is running for president in 2024. It hasn’t been made formal on whether he’ll return to Twitter or if he’s sticking with Truth Social.
Trump’s last tweet was from Jan. 8, 2021.
To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.
Twitter’s new owner Elon Musk has said Donald Trump’s account has been reinstated after running a poll in which users narrowly backed the move.
“The people have spoken,” tweeted Mr Musk, saying that 51.8% of more than 15 million Twitter users voted for the ban to be lifted.
But the former US president may not return to the platform, earlier saying: “I don’t see any reason for it”.
His account was suspended in 2021 due to the risk of incitement of violence.
Twitter’s previous management acted just days after Donald Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol in Washington DC on 6 January.
Hundreds of rioters entered the complex as the US Congress attempted to certify Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election. The ensuing violence led to the deaths of four civilians and a police officer.
Soon after the riots, Donald Trump’s Facebook, Instagram and YouTube accounts, which all had tens of millions of followers – were also suspended.
Several months later, he launched his own social media platform, Truth Social.
Earlier this week, the Republican announced that he would once again run for the US presidency in 2024.
Mr Musk, the world’s richest man, took control of Twitter in October in a $44bn (£37bn) deal.
He immediately embarked on a series of radical changes within the social media giant, amid concerns that he might loosen Twitter’s regulations on hate speech and misinformation.
With just over a week before the US midterm elections on 8 November, he responded to questions about whether he would reinstate Mr Trump’s account by tweeting: “If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me if Trump is coming back on this platform, Twitter would be minting money!”
Earlier this week, he told employees that the company’s office buildings would be temporarily closed, with immediate effect.
The announcement comes amid reports that large numbers of staff were quitting after Mr Musk called on them to sign up for “long hours at high intensity” or leave.
Social media giant, Twitter is facing a new crisis at its headquarters which may result in the closing down of the company.
Earlier this week, the firm’s new owner, Elon Musk said employees had to commit to working long hours and would “need to be extremely hardcore” or leave the company.
In an email to staff, Musk said workers should agree to the pledge if they wanted to stay.
The email also stated that employees who refuse to sign the form by 5 pm Eastern on Thursday, November 17th, would be let go and would receive three months of severance pay.
The message sent to Twitter staff
“If you are sure that you want to be part of the new Twitter, please click yes on the link below,” Musk said.
However, after long hours for workers to check “yes” on a Google form accepting Elon Musk’s proposal of working “long hours at high intensity”, it seems a large number of employees have rejected his vision.
In light of this, the firm is on the verge of collapse and losing even more employees following the mass layoffs of engineers and managers who keep the firm running.
Users of the platform have taken to its blogging site to express their concerns and worries.
Twitter employees say given the scale of the resignations this week, they expect the platform to start breaking soon. Some “legendary engineers” have reportedly left one by one.
I swear to god, if Twitter shuts down, we at LazytSpo is gonna to be dissapointed. for the love of god, please save Twitter altogether, because otherwise, it will be game over for Twitter. #RIPTwitter
Meanwhile, Elon Musk is deeply concerned about how many remaining employees could leave the company.
The departures of the employees raise new questions about whether the remaining Twitter engineers will be able to reliably keep the service up and running.
Twitter no longer has communications staff, but Musk so far hasn’t publicly commented on the resignations.
In a message seen by the BBC, workers were told that the offices would reopen on Monday 21 November.
It did not give a reason for the move.
The announcement comes amid reports that large numbers of staff were quitting after new owner Elon Musk called on them to sign up for “long hours at high intensity” or leave.
The message went on to say: “Please continue to comply with company policy by refraining from discussing confidential company information on social media, with the press or elsewhere.”
The Washington Post reported that , the new owner of the social media firm stated in an email to employees that if they wanted to stay, they should agree to the pledge.
Those who do not sign up by Thursday will receive three months’ severance pay, according to Mr Musk.
The BBC has reached out to Twitter for comment.
Mr Musk stated in an email to staff, which The Guardian obtained, that Twitter “will need to be extremely hardcore” in order to succeed.
“This will entail working long hours at a high level of intensity. Only outstanding performance will result in a passing grade “He stated.
Workers were told that they needed to click on a link by 17:00 EST on Thursday, if they want to be “part of the new Twitter”.
He added: “Whatever decision you make, thank you for your efforts to make Twitter successful.”
The world’s richest man has already announced half of Twitter’s staff are being let go, after he bought the company in a $44bn (£38.7bn) deal.
Mr Musk said he had “no choice” over the cuts, as the company was losing $4m (£3.51m) a day. He has blamed “activist groups pressuring advertisers” for a “massive drop in revenue”.
Last week, the entrepreneur told Twitter staff that remote working would end and “difficult times” lay ahead, according to reports.
In an email to staff, the owner of the social media firm said workers would be expected in the office for at least 40 hours a week, Bloomberg reported.
Mr Musk added that there was “no way to sugar-coat the message” that the slowing global economy was going to hit Twitter’s advertising revenues.
But tech investor Sarah Kunst said the real reason Twitter is facing difficulties is because Mr Musk’s takeover has saddled the company with debt.
His behaviour since the takeover has also led some advertisers to pause their spending, she said.
“He’s now trying to inflict that pain and uncertainty on the employees,” she said.
She added that there was a question mark over how enforceable Mr Musk’s email about hours to staff really was.
“Can you just send an email to staff who already work for you and just unilaterally change their working contract? That remains to be seen.”
Musk shows his ruthless side
Elon Musk likes to think of himself as “hardcore”.
He says he works 100+ hour weeks. He sometimes sleeps at the office.
And he wants that for his staff too.
His management philosophy is about putting together small collections of highly motivated and capable employees.
He says he’d much rather have a small number of exceptional people than many who are “pretty good and moderately motivated”.
With this email, he appears to applying that philosophy.
He wants just true believers at Twitter, people who are fully aligned with what he’s doing.
There are plenty of staff who do believe in Twitter’s mission. There are also staff working for Twitter who will relish working closely with Mr Musk.
And of course, if everyone at Twitter decided to take Elon Musk’s offer of severance at once, it’s hard to see how Twitter could function in the short term.
Mr Musk himself has been sleeping at Twitter in recent weeks, even while leading electric carmaker Tesla and rocket company SpaceX.
He described his work habits in a US court on Wednesday, where he appeared to defend the eye-popping $56bn pay package he received from electric carmaker Tesla in 2018.
“I pretty much work all the time, with rare exceptions.” he said.
In response to questioning, he later added that the “fundamental organisational restructuring” at Twitter would be complete by the end of this week.
One way Mr Musk could lighten his workload is by sharing the leadership of his other companies.
At the hearing, James Murdoch, a Tesla director and the son of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, said that Mr Musk had identified a potential successor to head the car maker.
Asked to confirm that Mr Musk had never identified a potential new Tesla chief executive, Mr Murdoch said “he actually has”, adding that it had happened in the “last few months”. He didn’t identify who the potential successor was.
“Elon Musk is not going to be doing candlelight dinners and playing ping pong in Twitter’s cafeteria and this is a shock to the system,” he said.
“But he also needs to play nice in the sandbox because if key Twitter engineers and developers leave, this will be a major void in the Twitter ecosystem,” he warned. “There’s a careful balance ahead for him, in this tightrope act.”
Tesla and CEO Elon Musk will spend this week in court to defend the massive compensation package that helped make him the world’s richest man.
The week-long trial in Delaware Court of Chancery will examine the 2018 compensation plan that the automaker’s board of directors created for Musk.
The automaker said at the time it could be worth nearly $56 billion, making it the largest compensation package for anyone on earth from a publicly traded company, and the net value today is $50.9 billion.
Even in the rarified air of CEO pay, Musk’s compensation plan stood apart. Millions upon millions of dollars are often lavished on corporate executives of the biggest companies, but the plan to pay Musk initially totaled in the tens of billions, as long as he met performance goals.
It wasn’t in cash – top executive pay rarely is – but in shares of the company. The higher Tesla went, the more those shares would be valued, the more Musk would be awarded and the more those shares would be worth.
And as Tesla’s stock shot ever upwards, it helped propel him to a net worth of over $300 billion at one point, all while shareholders reaped the potential gains.
But all the while, Musk was sharing his time between his many other endeavors. SpaceX began regularly sending astronauts to the International Space Station.
The Boring Company built a Loop under the Las Vegas Convention Center. And then, of course, he bought Twitter.
Huge CEO Pay
Musk isn’t the only one to benefit from the rise in value of Tesla shares and options,however. So have shareholders. The market value of Tesla has soared more 1,000% since they approved his pay package in March of 2018.
The case could be significant for Tesla, given the serious questions raised about its executive compensation, according to corporate governance experts. Tesla’s board of directors has defended the compensation package.
The trial may also invigorate debate over executive compensation, including large stock grants they receive. S&P 500 CEOs averaged $18.3 million in compensation in 2021, 324 times the median pay at the companies. That disparity has grown in recent years.
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy, for example, received compensation valued at $212.7 million in 2021. Apple CEO Tim Cook received nearly $100 million last year. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella was paid nearly $50 million in 2021.
The plaintiff, Richard J. Tornetta, claims on behalf of Tesla shareholders that Musk exploited his control over the company and its board of directors to secure the huge compensation package in order to “fund his personal ambition to colonize Mars.”
Musk entered March 2018, the month shareholders approved the compensation plan, at No. 41 on the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index, due largely to his involvement in Tesla and SpaceX. At the time, Tesla was a promising but troubled automaker.
It had lost nearly $2 billion the year before and struggled to overcome production delays as it manufactured its mass-market Model 3 sedan.
Musk spoke of being in “production hell” as well as “delivery logistics hell” during the year, and joked about going bankrupt.
Many questioned if the company could survive as an independent automaker.
Tesla’s board of directors felt that with proper execution the automaker could become one of the world’s most valuable companies and wanted to encourage Musk to lead it for the long term.
The compensation plan included 12 batches of stock that Musk would receive if milestones were hit, including the market capitalization of Tesla as well as its revenue and adjusted earnings. (Each batch of stock would be earned if Tesla’s market capitalization increased an additional $50 billion above $100 billion. Other milestones included hitting $35 billion in annualized revenue and $3 billion in adjusted earnings.)
The plan, originally set to pay out over the course of a decade, turned out to be wildly lucrative for Musk and in astonishing time. Tesla was the best-performing US stock in 2020 and became America’s most valuable automaker ever. Its small SUV, the Model Y, became the best-selling car in Europe recently.
Musk has reached many of the milestones that trigger the payouts, and he is expected to earn the final batch early next year.
The payment plan helped lead to Musk becoming the world’s richest person, with an estimated net worth of $184 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index.
His true net worth can be challenging to estimate as a significant portion is invested in SpaceX, a private company that does not have to publicly reveal detailed financials that could show a decline or increase in value. Tech stocks and the entire stock market more broadly have fallen sharply this year.
A Duty to Shareholders
Richard Tornetta, who originally filed the lawsuit in June 2018, claims that the Tesla board of directors has breached its fiduciary duties for waste, and Musk has breached his own fiduciary duties for unjust enrichment.
Tornetta argued in his original 2018 complaint that the compensation plan was unnecessary to incentive Musk as he already had a large ownership stake in the automaker.
The lawsuit was certified as a class action case by the court in January 2021. The case has taken years to move through the system due to the drawn-out nature of litigation, including working through a motion from Tesla to dismiss the complaint.
The Tornetta complaint alleges that the board of directors that created Musk’s compensation plan lacked sufficient independence from him. The board included Musk’s brother Kimbal as well as friends Anthony Gracias and Steve Jurvetson. (Jurvetson and Gracias have since left Tesla’s board.)
Carla Hayn, a professor who teaches corporate governance at the UCLA business school, told CNN Business that the case is serious for Tesla as it will be a heavy burden for the automaker to prove the compensation and the process to create it was fair.
“This is a huge package,” Hayn said of the compensation plan. “Did they need to give away this much of the company to Musk to align his interests and keep him as CEO?”
She noted that Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis, advisory firms, both recommended in 2018 that Tesla stockholders reject the compensation plan.
Institutional Shareholder Services cautioned that the plan “locks in unprecedented high pay opportunities for the next decade,” and noted that Musk already owned 22% of Tesla, aligning his interests with it. But shareholders did approve the plan, she noted.
Tesla’s Board
Hayn noted that Musk’s close relationships with the board members could be problematic for Tesla in the case.
“Given that entire board is very much under the influence of Musk it’s hard to know that anything that they did would be following proper process,” she said.
Tesla’s board of directors have claimed that it created the plan “after more than six months of careful analysis with a leading independent compensation consultant as well as discussions with Elon.”
“We gave Elon the ability to share in the upside in a way that is commensurate with the difficulty of achieving them,” they said at the time.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment and generally does not engage with the professional news media.
The trial is expected to last a week. Chancery court judges at times rule from the bench, but that’s uncommon. It may take weeks to months before a decision is issued.
Musk has become something of a regular at the Delaware Court of Chancery.Last month his acquisition of Twitter nearly went to trial at the court.
He testified before the court last year in a dispute over Tesla’s acquisition of SolarCity. A judge ruled in Musk’s favor this April.
Musk’s unique management style will be a topic of discussion. He leads several ventures outside of Tesla: the aerospace company SpaceX; his tunneling venture The Boring Co.; a brain interface startup, Neuralink; and Twitter. It’s uncommon for executives to hold multiple CEO titles.
Doja Cat took to Twitter to beg the platform’s new CEO – Elon Musk – for help after she accidentally locked her display name as “christmas.”
“i don’t wanna be christmas forever @elonmusk please help i’ve made a mistake,” the pop star tweeted early Thursday morning.
Doja Cat appeared to change her display name on Twitter on October 31, the announcement accompanied by a “Merry Christmas” graphic posted to her feed.
Doja Cat: ‘I don’t wanna be christmas forever @elonmusk please help i’ve made a mistake’
Since Musk took over Twitter, he has been making rapid and inconsistent changes to the social media site’s verification program.
The system was previously used to verify authentic users who own accounts of public interest – like government officials, celebrities, and journalists. But now, Musk said anyone who pays $8 per month can get the blue check mark.
According to The Verge, users who were previously verified under Twitter‘s legacy policy can no longer change their display names on the app, at least for now, to prevent impersonations.
“why can’t i change my name on here,” Doja Cat tweeted Thursday.
She followed up with another tweet: “how do i change it also f*ck you elon”
President Akufo-Addo says Twitter’s decision to fold up its satellite office in Africa is unfortunate.
“We had looked forward to its presence,” he told journalists in the US.
The President added: “It was not too long ago that it was up, but I understand it is part and parcel of a global restructuring of a company that is taking place under the new owner.”
“I think that is very unfortunate that, that should take place. The more organisations like that have local outlets, the better for all of us.”
The tumultuous start to Elon Musk’s reign saw sweeping reductions in the workforce at the social media company.
Musk’s Twitter laid off nearly all the employees in its only African office just four days after it opened in the Ghanaian capital Accra.
reports say that only one employee appears to have been retained in the Ghana office after the global job cuts.
“It’s very insulting,” one former employee said in an interview with CNN. “They didn’t even have the courtesy to address me by name. The email just said ‘see attached’ and yet they used my name when they gave me an offer.”
Musk has fired half of Twitter staff, ushered out most of the top executives, and ordered the remaining staff to stop working from home.
The company has reportedly also made huge reductions in India, one of its biggest markets. It laid off more than 90% of its staff in Asia’s third-largest economy last weekend, according to a Bloomberg report.
The world’s richest businessman recently virtually attended the B20, a business gathering that takes place concurrently with the G20.
Musk has had an interest in Indonesia for some time – ostensibly to invest in nickel mines here that would come in handy for his electric vehicle business.
Musk, dressed in a bright green batik shirt, appeared via video link.
Perhaps a physical visit would have been a distraction because of what’s going on with his ownership of Twitter, so are the Indonesians really all that disappointed?
When I mentioned the notable absence to Arsjad Rasjid, host of the B20 and the head of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce, he jokingly asked – “Who?”, and then seemed to downplay his absence.
“Of course, we are disappointed,” he told me on the sidelines of the summit. “He is an investor, I hope he invests in Indonesia. But there’s a lot of other investors who are here you know, from many countries.”
The staff at Tumblr have some thoughts about Twitter’s decision to offer verification to anyone for $7.99 a month.
In a post made on the social media network’s staff page on Thursday, Tumblr introduced the option for users to purchase two blue checkmarks to appear next to their account name for $7.99. For those who haven’t been keeping up with Elon Musk’s straight-up catastrophic takeover of Twitter, subscribers of Twitter Blue can now get themselves verified on the platform for $7.99. The decision has been met with criticism, and has even been abused by individuals impersonating notable figures like LeBron James.
“Hi! We’re introducing Important Blue Internet Checkmarks here on Tumblr,” the post announcing Tumblr’s double blue checkmark subscription. “They’re a steal at $7.99—that’s cheaper than some other places, when you consider that you get not one but TWO checkmarks for your blog on web only (for now). Why, you ask? Why not? Nothing matters! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.”
On the checkout page for the subscription, per Insider, Tumblr clarifies that the tick is not a true verification but a “coveted status symbol” and nothing more. “This is not a verification status; it’s an Important Blue Internet Checkmark, which in 2022 is just as legit,” reads the disclaimer. “Also the Important Blue Internet Checkmark may turn into a bunch of crabs at any time.”
The mockery of Musk’s questionable decisions following his $44 billion acquisition of the company comes after a chaotic week, which saw countless staff let go and multiple top security executives resign. Musk recently admitted that his blue check verification program “maybe” a “dumb decision,” and as of Friday Twitter has paused its subscription service.
As reported by CNBC, the iPhone app no longer allows users to sign up for Twitter Blue. Platformer managing editor Zoë Schiffer tweeted that the decision was made “to help address impersonation issues,” which is something almost everyone warned about before Musk just went and greenlit the idea anyway.
Existing subscribers will still have access to their features, but for the time being Twitter Blue is inaccessible.
The controversy around Twitter Blueunder Elon Musk has continued today. Citing Impersonation abuse from users, Twitter has suspended its Blue Subscription Service in an attempt to resolve the growing issue.
The option to sign up for the verification service has seemingly disappeared from the platform. A new update from an internal note has now identified misuse of the service as a reason for its suspension.
JUST IN: Twitter suspends Blue subscription paid verification services, citing impersonation abuse.
For as much change that occurred in Elon Musk’s first two weeks as head of the biggest social media platform in the world, the $8 Twitter Blue service has dominated much of the conversation.
Questions of verification, and just what is offered, have been a huge aspect of the dialogue. Subsequently, it seems as though the platform has suspended the utilization of the service until it can combat a growing impersonation problem.
Source: The Indian Express
An internal note to staff suggested that the subscription service be paused while efforts are made to deter impersonation. Moreover, the suspension seemingly only impacts potential new subscribers, as Twitter Blue users still have access to the features of the service.
The pause follows Musk’s admitting earlier this week that a paid verification model could be, “a dumb decision, we’ll see.” Additionally, the question surrounding how the platform would tackle impersonation was a massive one for potential subscribers.
Source: OpIndia
The new CEO has been outspoken about his desire to craft a Twitter that lessens the allure of verification. Conversely, the problem stands in a solution not yet being found for those who will abuse a verification that is easily accessible.
Twitter Blue has seemingly factored heavily into Musk’s plans to generate revenue for the platform. This issue will likely befairly vital for the new owner, and remaining staff, to combat.
A raft of key executives then resigned from the platform.
“I’ve made the hard decision to leave Twitter,” tweeted chief security officer Lea Kissner, who reportedly stepped down with other key privacy or security executives.
Yoel Roth, the site’s head of trust and safety, then resigned just a day after staunchly defending Mr Musk’s content moderation policy to advertisers.
Late on Thursday, Mr Roth’s Twitter bio described him as “Former Head of Trust & Safety at @Twitter.”
Mr Roth had became the public face of Twitter’s content moderation after Mr Musk took over.
Mr Musk had praised him for defending Twitter’s ongoing efforts to fight harmful misinformation and hate speech.
I’ve heard Twitter in its current state described as an aeroplane, mid-flight, without pilots.
The sudden departure of the head of trust and safety, the chief information security officer, and both the chief privacy and compliance officers is a dramatic development. It’s not clear how soon they will be replaced, while the firm remains this unstable and sweeping job cuts have already been made.
From a security perspective, Twitter will, like all big platforms, be a constant target for hackers and bad actors around the world, meaning it cannot afford to take its eye off the ball and it must continue to ensure that its systems are robust, and threats are monitored.
As for users’ privacy, you don’t need me to tell you how important that is. And indeed, as we’ve seen, the US regulators are already keeping a very close eye on what’s going on.
Elon Musk, on the other hand, says engagement and user numbers are higher than ever. We only have his word for it – I have to say that anecdotally I’m seeing plenty of Twitter Blue subscribers who seem happy with their new “blue tick”. And however many of them there are, that’s all fresh income that the firm did not previously have.
But it’s also causing its own headache because now anybody can have a badge which until very recently was a symbol of authenticity – including fakes.
Musk has also said that bankruptcy is not out of the question. While it may feel like we are watching Twitter speeding towards the edge of a cliff, I think it’s too early to tell whether it will manage to put the brakes on in time. In the early days of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg’s motto was “move fast and break things” – Elon Musk appears to have taken this to another level.
Official, or not?
The Twitter Blue subscription service allowed users to pay £6.99 ($7.99) per month for a blue tick. There would be a separate grey “official” badge for some high-profile accounts.
But on Wednesday Musk scrapped the new grey tick almost immediately, which added to the confusion.
However, on Friday new grey official badges for large organisations began reappearing on some Twitter profiles.
There has also been the emergence of fake accounts impersonating celebrities and politicians such as NBA star LeBron James and former UK prime minister Tony Blair.
US-based PR strategist Max Burns said he had seen fake accounts with the verified blue tick badge bought through Twitter Blue posing as support accounts for real airlines and asking customers who were trying to contact them on Twitter to direct message the fake accounts instead.
“How long until a prankster takes a real passenger’s ticket information and cancels their flight? Or takes their credit card info and goes on a spending spree?” he said.
“It will only take one major incident for every airline to bail on Twitter as a source of customer engagement.”
Doja Cat couldn’t figure out how to change her name on Twitter—which is currently “Christmas” —and enlisted ElonMusk’s help. But not before relaying an expletive to the Tesla CEO.
She took to the platform to write, “why can’t i change my name on here” and “how do i change it also fuck you elon.”
She then tweeted directly to Musk, writing, “i don’t wanna be christmas forever @elonmusk please help i’ve made a mistake.”
He replied, “Working on it!” and a couple of minutes later, “Pretty funny though,” to which she said, “Thanks Elon.”
Following her appeal to Musk, Doja went on a rant on Twitter’s forthcoming pay-to-be-verified program. “You guys are paying $8 a month to come on here and go to war with people who are not in agreement with who your favorite pop star is. You’re paying $8 a month to come on here and say shit like, ‘Bye!’ You’re coming on here for $8 a month to post porn and then get into an argument. I think I can stop there. Okay cool, bye.”
The verification program was originally priced at $20 per month until Musk proposed a lower fee amid backlash. It was also reported that he recently told advertisers that this may be a “dumb decision.
Separately, Mr Musk is said to have told Twitter employees that bankruptcy is not out of the question.
Since Mr Musk began firing thousands of employees last week, the company has been in disarray.
The ability for users to buy verified status as part of a new subscription has raised concerns that Twitter could be swamped with fake accounts.
On Thursday, Yoel Roth, who had been Twitter’s head of trust and safety, updated his profile on the social media platform to indicate that he was no longer in the role.
Chief privacy officer Damien Kieran and chief compliance officer Marianne Fogarty resigned, according to reports, and the company’s chief security officer Lea Kissner also quit.
The departures may increase the risk of Twitter violating regulatory orders. The firm was fined $150m (£119m) in May for selling users’ data, and had to agree to new privacy rules.
“We are tracking recent developments at Twitter with deep concern,” Douglas Farrar, the FTC’s director of public affairs, said.
“No chief executive or company is above the law, and companies must follow our consent decrees.”
Mr Farrer said the FTC had “new tools to ensure compliance, and we are prepared to use them”.
Twitter paid the fine in May to settle allegations it had illegally used users’ data to help sell targeted ads.
In addition to the fine, it had to agree to new rules, and put in place a beefed-up privacy and security programme – overseen by the executives reported to have quit.
Since taking charge, Mr Musk has fired former chief executive Parag Agrawal and other top management, and the company’s advertising and marketing chiefs have also left, adding to concerns that Twitter does not have enough people in place to oversee that it remains compliant with regulations.
Money concerns
In a separate development, Mr Musk reportedly told employees in a meeting that he was not certain about the future financial performance of the company, and that bankruptcy was a possibility.
“We just definitely need to bring in more cash than we spend. If we don’t do that and there’s a massive negative cash flow, then bankruptcy is not out of the question,” Mr Musk is understood to have said.
He also urged employees to work with a “maniacal sense of urgency,” according to reports.
Twitter was approached for comment. Technology website The Verge, which published a full transcript of Mr Musk’s address to employees, reported that Twitter no longer had a communications department.
A number of big advertisers have been spooked by the direction Mr Musk is taking the social media firm.
Twitter makes most of its money through advertising, but some large advertisers have paused spending while they take stock of the changes that Mr Musk is bringing in.
On Thursday, Chipotle Mexican Grill said it had pulled back its paid and owned content on Twitter “while we gain a better understanding on the direction of the platform under its new leadership”.
It joined other brands, including car firms General Motors, Volkswagen and Audi, drugs giant Pfizer, and food manufacturer General Mills, which owns brands including Cheerios and Lucky Charms.
Some brands aresaid to be concerned that Mr Musk will relax content moderation rules and reverse permanent Twitter bans given to controversial figures, including former US President Donald Trump.
The state-owned News Agency of Nigeria alleges that the Nigerian government is “closely monitoring” Twitter in the wake of the billionaire Elon Musk’s takeover.
It quotes Information Minister Lai Mohammed as saying the government will not allow any social media platform to plunge the country into crisis.
In January, Twitter agreed to demands to register in Nigeria and pay local taxes in order to end a seven-month ban after the government had accused it of siding with secessionists.
The minister on Thursday raised concerns for “what will become of our agreement with Twitter in view of the change in its ownership”.
He is quoted as saying:
Quote Message: We are closely monitoring the evolving developments at Twitter. It has never been our intention to ban any social mediaplatform or stifle free speech. Not at all. But we will also not sit by and allow any platform whatsoever to throw our nation into crisis.”
We are closely monitoring the evolving developments at Twitter. It has never been our intention to ban any social media platform or stifle free speech. Not at all. But we will also not sit by and allow any platform whatsoever to throw our nation into crisis.”
The news agency adds that the minister said he and the government were engaging positively with the different social media platforms, including Facebook, Google (which owns YouTube) and Twitter.
Businessman Dr Kofi Amoah, affectionately called Citizen Kofi has bemoaned the decision of the microblogging platform Twitter to close down its Ghana and Africa offices.
The decision to close down the Ghana and Africa office of Twitter comes after the platform was acquired by billionaire Elon Musk.
Earlier this month, Twitter fired nearly all its staff in Ghana, which was home to its only office in Africa.
The layoffs according to sources close to the business were part of a global staff cull introduced by new boss Elon Musk.
Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, has been laying off staff worldwide. He said he had “no choice” but to slash the company’s workforce as the firm was losing more than $4m (£3.5m) a day.
Last year, Twitter opened its Ghana office amidst some fanfare with the Ghana president Nana Akufo Addo touting its immense benefits.
Twitter in a statement after arriving in Africa said it was motivated by the desire to “be more immersed in the rich and vibrant communities that drive the conversations taking place every day across the African continent.”
News of the closure of the Ghana and Africa office was shocking and saddening to many but Dr Kofi Amoah says while it is a painful reality, he wants the episode to spur young African techies to create their own platform.
In a Twitter post on Thursday, 10 November 2022, Dr Amoah wrote, “Yes, the strength of a continent lies in her people. Can the story of Twitter closing its African office end more beautifully: A group of techie young Africans, Nigeria/Kenya/Ghana, have announced the formation of Twitter-Africa named AKASANOMA, funded by the AfDB.”
Dr Amoah has in recent years been leading a charge for Africa to have its own homegrown solutions to the many problems that bedevil the continent.
Following Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter on October 27, the world’s richest man proposed a range of controversial changes to the platform. With mounting evidence that he is making it up as he goes along, these proposals are tweeted out in a stream-of-consciousness manner from Musk’s Twitter account.
Primarily to raise revenue, one of the ideas was to charge US$8 a month to obtain a verified status – that is, the coveted blue tick badge next to the account handle.
Within the space of a few days, the paid verification change has already been rolled out in several countries, including Australia, under the Twitter Blue subscription service.
More than just verification
According to Twitter, the blue tick lets people know an account of interest is authentic. Currently, there are seven categories of “public interest accounts”, such as government office accounts, news organisations and journalists, and influencers.
Yet this seemingly innocuous little blue icon is far from a simple verification tool in Twitter’s fight against impersonation and fraud.
In the public view, a verified status signifies social importance. It is a coveted status symbol to which users aspire, in large part because Twitter’s approval process has made it difficult to obtain.
That’s partly because the blue tick has a controversial history. After receiving widespread condemnation for verifying white supremacists in 2017, Twitter halted its verification process for more than three years.
There’s a fundamental mismatch between what Twitter wants the blue tick to mean versus how the public perceives it, something the Twitter Safety team itself acknowledged in 2017.
Verification was meant to authenticate identity & voice but it is interpreted as an endorsement or an indicator of importance. We recognize that we have created this confusion and need to resolve it. We have paused all general verifications while we work and will report back soon
But they didn’t resolve it. When Twitter resumed verifying accounts systematically in 2021, it wasn’t long until the process began to fail again, with blue ticks being handed out to bots and fake accounts.
Moreover, the public is still confused about what the blue tick signifies, and views it as a status symbol.
Lords and peasants
Musk’s stream-of-consciousness policy proposals may reflect his own preference for interacting with verified accounts. Despite his repeated claims of “power to the people” and breaking the “lords and peasants” system of verified versus non-verified accounts, I ran a data analysis of 1,493 of Musk’s tweets during 2022, and found that more than half (57%) of his interactions were with verified accounts.
Evidently, having a verified status makes one worthy of his attention. Thus, Musk himself arguably views the blue tick as a status symbol, like everyone else (except Twitter).
However, Musk’s US$8 blue tick proposal is not only misguided but, ironically, likely to produce even more inauthenticity and harm on the platform.
A fatal flaw stems from the fact that “payment verification” is not, in fact, verification.
Fact from fraud
Although Twitter’s verification system is by no means perfect and is far from transparent, it did at least aspire to the kinds of verification practices journalists and researchers use to distinguish fact from fiction, and authenticity from fraud. It takes time and effort. You can’t just buy it.
Despite its flaws, the verification process largely succeeded in rooting out a sizable chunk of illegitimate activity on the platform, and highlighted notable accounts in the public interest. In contrast, Musk’s payment verification only verifies that a person has US$8.
Just to make this as clear as possible.
What verification means now: We’ve confirmed this person or company is who they say they are.
What verification will mean in the future: I have $8.
Elon could still back out of this, but that’s the fundamental change that he’s proposing.
Payment verification can’t guarantee the system won’t be exploited for social harm. For example, we already saw that conspiracy theory influencers such as “QAnon John” are at risk of becoming legitimised through the purchase of a blue tick.
Opening the floodgates for bots
The problem is even worse at larger scales. It is hard enough to detect and prevent bot and troll networks from poisoning the information landscape with disinformation and spam.
Now, for the low cost of US$800, foreign adversaries can launch a network of 100 verified bot accounts. The more you can pay, the more legitimacy you can purchase in the public sphere.
To make matters worse, Musk publicly stated that verified accounts who pay US$8 will be granted more visibility on the platform, while non-verified accounts will be suppressed algorithmically.
He believes this will solve hate speech and fake accounts by prioritising verified accounts in search, replies and mentions. If anything, it will have the opposite effect: those with enough money will dominate the public sphere. Think Russian bots and cryptocurrency spammers.
Consider also that the ability to participate anonymously on social media has many positive advantages, including safety for marginalised and at-risk groups.
Giving users tools to manage their public and personal spheres is crucial to self-identity and online culture. Punishing people who want to remain anonymous on Twitter is not the answer.
Worse yet, connecting social media profiles to payment verification could cause real harm if a person’s account is compromised and the attacker learns their identity through their payment records.
A cascade of consequences
Musk’s ideas are already causing a cascading series of unintended consequences on the platform. Accounts with blue ticks began changing their profile handle to “Elon Musk” and profile picture to parody him. In response, Musk tweeted a new policy proposal that Twitter handles engaging in impersonation would be suspended unless they specify being a “parody”.
Going forward, any Twitter handles engaging in impersonation without clearly specifying “parody” will be permanently suspended
Users will not even receive a warning, as comedian Kathy Griffin and her 2 million followers discovered when her account was suspended for parodying Musk.
Musk’s vision for user verification does not square up with that of Twitter or the internet research community.
While the existing system is flawed, at least it was systematic, somewhat transparent, and with the trappings of accountability. It was also revisable in the face of public criticism.
On the other hand, Musk’s policy approach is tyrannical and opaque. Having abolished the board of directors, the “Chief Twit” has all the power and almost no accountability.
We are left with a harrowing vision of a fragile and flawed online public square: in a world where everyone is verified, no one is verified.
For over a year, the staff of Twitter Africa worked remotely while preparing to move into their Accra Headquarters to begin operations physically.
It, therefore, came as great news when, on November 1, 2022, all the Africa staff of the global microblogging and social networking service got to have their first taste of a physical working environment with their colleagues.
The remote operations had ended, and that was supposed to be good news for the staff and the African region, knowing that Twitter had established an office to serve its direct interests, but something big and unexpected hit them some 24 hours after.
By Friday, November 4, 2022, the fates of the Africa HQ staff had been determined: none of them was spared the big cut.
“The company is reorganizing its operations as a result of a need to reduce costs. It is with regret that we’re writing to inform you that your employment is terminating as a result of this exercise.
“Your last day of employment will be December 4, 2022. You will be placed on garden leave until your termination date,” the termination notice sent via email to them read.
This was made available by Larry Madowo, a Kenyan journalist working with CNN.
SCOOP – CNN has obtained the termination notice sent to staff at Twitter’s only office in Africa – in Accra ????????
It was sent to their personal emails but didn’t mention any of them by name. Unlike in the US, it doesn’t offer next steps or severance pic.twitter.com/R868moImlh
“The company is reorganizing its operations as a result of a need to reduce costs. It is with regret that we’re writing to inform you that your employment is terminating as a result of this exercise,” the email told Twitter Africa staff. And then silence
On October 28, 2022, after months of processes for a complete takeover of the microblogging platform, the world’s richest man and billionaire businessman, Elon Musk, earned control of the site after a $44 billion deal.
According to the New York Times, the closing of the billion-dollar deal, amidst a lot of drama and a lot of legal challenges, had “set Twitter on an uncertain course.”
In one of his very first decisions at the helm of the social media giant, Musk fired three top executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal.
How Twitter Africa staff were fired:
Giving further details into the mysterious way the staff of the African office received their termination notices, Larry Madowo said that everything happened in four days.
This, he said, happened after the staff physically moved into their office space in Ghana’s capital, Accra.
He added that this move by Musk, and ultimately Twitter, now question its commitment to the continent because “when it opened the African office in Ghana, Africans – more than a billion of us, felt seen, and now all of that seems to have all gone up in the smoke.
“On Tuesday, after working remotely for about a year, Twitter’s Africa staff in Ghana finally opened the physical. On Friday morning, they were locked out of their email accounts, and their work laptops stopped working.
“They then received email notifications on their personal email accounts that they were getting terminated,” he explained.
The 20-member Africa team of Twitter are not alone, as many of the company’s staff in parts of the world have also been hit with this unexpected blow.
No severance for Africa staff:
While there has been an understanding communicated to especially staff of Twitter in the United States about receiving certain severances after the termination of their employment, CNN reported that that is not the case too in Africa.
Explaining how this has come to be the case, Larry added that following their termination notifications, the Africa staff are to stay put, doing almost noting until their last day at the company.
“Typically, the remaining employees of Twitter will receive full payment and benefits until December 4 but until that time, they are not allowed to communicate with other staff, suppliers, customers or clients and they are to remain available at Twitter’s disposal in case they need to have a proper handover,” he added.
But again, he said that for the Africa staff, one other thing that has given them a reason to be further worried is that the email they received did not even mention any severances for them.
Larry explained it as, “At least for the African staff, that email did not even mention them by name; it just said ‘see attached.’ And even though Elon Musk said everybody who got fired would be getting at least three months severance above the law – that’s in the US, those in [the] Africa office didn’t get a next step, or if they’re going to get any severance at all, which some lawyers in Ghana are now pointing out could be a violation of Ghanaian employment law.”
It is, however, unclear what the next move by the staff for the Twitter Africa office will be, even as there are suggestions that this termination violates Ghana’s laws.
You can also watch this edition of GhanaWeb Special:
The power of social media – Are virtual interactions taking over reading among the youth?
Wonder Hagan produces a documentary on the impact of social media on the reading habits of today’s youth.
(@Caption__Master) 
Twitter employees say given the scale of the resignations this week, they expect the platform to start breaking soon. Some “legendary engineers” have reportedly left one by one.
(@FHeartsHS) 
(@kojodarkoo) 
