Twitter’s new owner and CEO, Elon Musk, has been making dramatic changes since he finalized a deal to buy the company for about $44 billion on Oct. 27. After laying off half the staff, he gave remaining employees an ultimatum this week to pledge to work under his new intense culture or get out. Many, it seems, decided to leave.
Twitter’s saga with Musk, who also runs automaker Tesla and aerospace company SpaceX, was chaotic even before he took control. He signed a deal in April to acquire the company but then attempted to back out of it, leading Twitter to sue him. After months of pretrial skirmishes, Musk closed the acquisition just before a court-ordered deadline.
Here’s the most recent news about Musk’s takeover of Twitter:
Nov. 18: Musk asks engineers to come to the office. Previously banned accounts get reinstated
Twitter employees were locked out of the company’s headquarters, but Musk reportedly sent an email asking for some software engineers to head back into the office, according to Bloomberg. Musk asked the coders to meet with him and provide examples of their coding work in order to help him better understand the software.
Musk tweeted about the company’s policy on speech saying certain tweets will not have “freedom of reach.”
“Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter,” he said. “You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out, which is no different from rest of internet.”
Musk followed that tweet with another saying conservative media personality Jordan Peterson, right-wing satire site The Babylon Bee and comedian Kathy Griffin will have their banned accounts reinstated. Twitter booted Peterson and The Babylon Bee from the platform earlier in the year over anti-trans tweets while Griffin had her account suspended last week for changing it into a Musk parody account.
Musk also tweeted that Twitter hasn’t made a decision regarding former President Donald Trump’s account, but Yoel Roth, the former head of trust and safety at Twitter, said in a New York Times opinion piece published Nov. 18 that the ex-president’s reinstatement was “near certainty.” Twitter banned Trump from its platform in 2021 because of concerns his remarks could spark more violence after the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot.
Roth, who resigned from the company, wrote how Musk called for more censoring of tweets after a surge of hate speech showed up on the platform following his takeover. He also went on to explain the need for content moderation was not only important to keep advertisers happy, but it also was needed to appease app store owners and government entities, such as the European Union, that have laws against hate speech.
In a 24-hour poll on Twitter, Musk asked users if Trump’s account should be reinstated.
Twitter users are still worried about the platform’s potential death, especially ahead of high-traffic events such as the FIFA World Cup that kicks off on Nov. 20. The New York Times, citing three people close to the company, reported that some estimates showed that at least 1,200 employees resigned on Nov. 17 after Musk gave them a choice to stay or leave.
User safety is another big concern on Twitter. CNN reporter Oliver Darcy tweeted that the White House is asking Twitter to explain how it’s safeguarding “the safety of Americans’ online data.” The White House didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Nov. 17: Twitter users fear end is near. Musk locks office doors. Many employees take severance. Senators want investigation
Twitter users started tweeting farewell remarks as #RIPTwitter trended on the platform in the US and other parts of the world.
Fears about a potential collapse of the site came after hundreds of employees decided to leave the company earlier in the day. One former Twitter employee told The Washington Post that there’s no longer a “skeleton crew manning the system.”
Twitter “will continue to coast until it runs into something, and then it will stop,” the employee said.
Musk tweeted a meme with Twitter’s logo on a gravestone.
The remaining 3,500 or so employees who were left at Twitter after thousands were laid off had a choice to make at the end of the day on Nov. 17: Remain under Musk’s plan for an intense “Twitter 2.0” or leave with three months of severance pay.
Up to 75% of remaining employees chose the exit, according to Fortune and Bloomberg, creating confusion about how many remaining people would have access to the offices. The Verge reported that those who left included some “legendary” engineers and coders.
Around the same time, the company apparently locked the doors to its San Francisco headquarters until Nov. 21, according to tech newsletter Platformer.
Twitter, which may no longer have a public relations department, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
All of this occurred after Musk softened his stance on how he wanted to run the new Twitter, at least somewhat. An email sent to Twitter employees on Nov. 9 said remote work would be banned, but an email to employees on Nov. 17 stated that remote work is possible if approved, according to a report from Bloomberg.
“All that is required for approval is that your manager takes responsibility for ensuring that you are making an excellent contribution,” Musk said in the email. He also wants employees to have in-person team meetings at least once a month.
Twitter is also facing more scrutiny from US lawmakers. A group of Democratic senators sent a letter to Lina Khan, the chairwoman of the US Federal Trade Commission. Outlined in the letter are what the legislators described as “alarming steps” taken by Musk including new features that have been used by scammers, an increase in hate speech and the removal of cybersecurity executives within the company, potentially putting users’ personal data at risk.
The senators point out that these actions could place the company in violation of the FTC’s consent decree to protect this data as part of a settlement with the commission in 2011.
“We urge the Commission to vigorously oversee its consent decree with Twitter and to bring enforcement actions against any breaches or business practices that are unfair or deceptive, including bringing civil penalties and imposing liability on individual Twitter executives where appropriate,” the senators said.
Among the seven senators who signed the letter are Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Cory Booker of New Jersey.
Twitter violated the consent decree in May when the FTC found the company used security data like phone numbers and email addresses to target advertising at users. This led to a $150 million settlement paid by Twitter.
Musk appeared to end the day poking fun at his earlier warning that Twitter may go bankrupt.
Twitter has not responded to multiple requests for comment.
Nov. 16: Musk demands ‘hardcore’ work culture. Dorsey’s ‘nope’
Musk emailed all staff to outline his vision for “Twitter 2.0,” which will require an “extremely hardcore” culture, with long hours and high intensity, according to Pragmatic Engineer writer (and former Uber engineer) Gergely Orosz. Employees must agree to this on Thursday or leave with three months of severance pay.
During testimony Wednesday over a Tesla shareholder case alleging that his salary as CEO is excessive, Musk also reportedly told the court that he does not want to be CEO of Tesla, and that his chief executive leadership of Twitter is a temporary arrangement.
“I expect to reduce my time at Twitter and find somebody else to run Twitter over time,” he said, according to CNBC.
Twitter didn’t respond to a request for comment.
When a follower asked Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey if he’d consider returning as CEO, Dorsey responded with a firm “nope.” There’s no indication that he got an offer to return — the follower’s query came after Dorsey engaged in conversation about Twitter’s future and expressed confidence that the site would survive. His previous tenure as CEO ended in May 2021, and he left its board of directors in May 2022.
Nov. 15: Workers fired…
Read More: Twitter-Musk News Timeline: Musk Summons Engineers as Worries of Twitter Crash Grow