Musk’s chaotic first month as Twitter boss

Elon Musk completes a month of Twitter full of controversies (Image: REUTERS/Adrees Latif)

This Sunday, a month will have passed since Elon Musk arrived at Twitter headquarters clinging to a bathroom sink. Along with the record of his entry, the billionaire had tweeted the phrase “Let That Sink In”, which can be translated both as “Let that sink in” and “Think about it”.

But little time was left to speculate about what this new twitter under the management Musk. Soon the noise of his controversial management shock was heard from all sides.

In one month, Musk put into practice several radical changes in the policy of verified profiles and in the understanding of Twitter’s role in content moderation, in addition to having conducted a policy of at least controversial dismissals.

And if you got lost in the midst of so many controversies, don’t worry: check out the retrospective of the three main points of Musk’s tenure in his first month as head of Twitter.

Mass layoffs and harsh working conditions

Seeking to cut costs amid the tech bloodletting plaguing Silicon Valley’s top names, Musk has put in place a draconian layoff program.

But soon after it announced it would eliminate about 3,700 jobs from the social media platform, Twitter was the target of a class action lawsuit that was filed in San Francisco court. Workers allege the company failed to comply with notice requirements, violating federal and California law.

Musk’s action hit several offices around the world, cutting, in some of them, about 90% of the workforce. Twitter had a total workforce of 7,000 employees.

The process was so accelerated that, in several cases, Twitter’s new command even fired people by mistake, even before it was realized that their experiences were necessary to develop the new duties that Musk wants on the platform.

Employees who managed to save their jobs from the wave of cuts also did not spare the billionaire criticism. As reported by the press in recent days, Musk would have sent an email to Twitter employees saying that everyone should accept an “extremely tough” culture, with regard to work in the coming times on the platform.

Verified policy chaotic start

The $8-a-month subscription plan for verified users was one of the first plans Musk touted. The new feature of the social network was such a priority for the billionaire that the failure to respect the deadline stipulated by Musk for the delivery of the project became a reason for the dismissal of several employees.

Versions of the new policy began to be implemented in the first week of November. It didn’t take long for several users of the platform to begin to notice flaws in the recognition of who could or could not have the blue seal.

Jokingly, celebrities changed their names and images to ‘fakes’ of Elon Musk, without losing the blue seal; in recent weeks, Twitter has registered a significant increase in ‘fakes’ that pass by celebrities and brands on the platform.

Amidst the negative comments, Twitter announced that the mandatory fee of $8 a month is lifted, at least until after Tuesday’s mid-term elections.

After the bad start and suspension of the new verified policy, the twitter plans to start its verification service next Friday (2) with different colored seals for individuals, companies and governments.

Moderation on Twitter and the return of banned profiles

Brazilian politics has landed on Elon Musk’s radar, who has also taken on the role of reviewing Twitter’s content moderation policy. Musk is a persistent critic of platforms moderating the flow of opinions and information in the digital environment.

The billionaire undertook to investigate alleged cases of censorship, perpetrated by Twitter, on accounts of supporters of Jair Bolsonaro (PL).

This is the case for elected representatives Carla Zambelli (PL-SP) and Nikolas Ferreira (PL-MG) and, more recently, Marcos Cintraformer secretary of the Federal Revenue and vice president on the ticket of Soraya Thronicke (Brazil Union).

Bolsonaristas had their profiles suspended by the network by determination of the Superior Electoral Court (TSE), after disclosing false information about the elections on the penultimate Sunday, such as the one that questioned the fact that Bolsonaro did not win 100% of the votes in any electoral zone .

Now, Musk has announced a kind of amnesty for accounts that had been banned from the platform for spreading false information. One of the profiles announcing his return is of none other than Donald Trump, the former Republican president who will run again in 2024 for the post of Chief Executive.

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Source: Moneytimes

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