Social Media

The Insider reports: Elon Musk fired several dozen Twitter employees overnight on Wednesday, most of whom were engineers, two people familiar with the company’s actions told Insider. The firings came as a surprise inside Twitter, the people said. Musk said in an all-hands meeting earlier this week that there would be no more layoffs at the company. The employees fired …

The New York Times reports: Before Elon Musk bought Twitter last month, the company’s executives had racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel invoices that the social media service planned to pay. But once Mr. Musk took over the company, he refused to reimburse travel vendors for those bills, current and former Twitter employees said. Mr. Musk’s staff …

The Independent reports: Elon Musk has appeared to mock anti-racism initiatives by Twitter’s own staff, as well a Black Lives Matter more broadly. Mr Musk appeared to laugh at T-shirts that had been made by Twitter’s internal business group for Black employees. He then criticised Black Lives Matter protestors. He said that the shirts stemmed from the protests in Ferguson, …

The Washington Post reports: Dozens of top Twitter advertisers, including 14 of the top 50, have stopped advertising in the few weeks since Musk’s chaotic acquisition of the social media company, according to The Post’s analysis of data from Pathmatics, which offers brand analysis on digital marketing trends. Ads for blue-chip brands including Jeep and Mars candy, whose corporate parents …

The Verge reports: Elon Musk told Twitter employees on Monday that the company won’t relaunch its paid verification subscription, Twitter Blue, until “we’re confident about significant impersonations not happening,” according to a recording of his remarks obtained by The Verge. Musk said last week that his $8 per month Blue subscription would be made available again on November 29th. But …

Mediaite reports: Elon Musk restored Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-GA) non-congressional Twitter account on Monday. Greene celebrated the news. Greene’s non-congressional account was permanently suspended in January due to allegedly spreading disinformation about Covid-19. “We permanently suspended the account you referenced (@mtgreenee) for repeated violations of our COVID-19 misinformation policy,” a Twitter spokesperson told New York Times reporter Davey Alba …

TechCrunch reports: Facebook is notifying users that it will remove four information fields from profiles starting next month. These fields include religious views, political views, addresses and the “Interested in” field, which indicates a user’s sexual orientation. The change will go into effect on December 1. A spokesperson for the company told TechCrunch in an email that the reason behind …

The New York Daily News reports: Elon Musk is taunting former President Donald Trump with a crude, sexually charged Jesus meme to suggest he’s struggling to keep away from Twitter. The world’s richest man shared the religious meme with his 118 million users on Sunday in response to Trump saying he had “no reason” to return to Twitter after new …

Semafor reports: Trump has been working on a merger deal between the platform, which is privately owned by Trump Media & Technology Group, and Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that would take Trump’s business public, making it accountable to investors. Since Trump is a core part of Truth Social’s value, rejoining Twitter could create some …

The Guardian reports: Elon Musk has announced the reinstatement of Donald Trump’s Twitter account after users on the social media platform voted by a slim majority to lift a ban on the former US president. Trump’s account was suspended in 2021 after the 6 January Capitol riot for violating Twitter guidelines and the risk of “further incitement of violence”. Musk, …

TMZ reports: CBS has started what could be a devastating ripple effect on Twitter, hitting the pause button, indefinitely, on posting new tweets amid uncertainty under Elon Musk’s stewardship. The network’s news division, CBS News, announced Friday it’d be suspending all Twitter activity from its official profiles as it continues to monitor things. CBS News says it’s doing this out …

The Daily Beast reports: Twitter czar Elon Musk sparked fresh controversy late Friday with a poll shared on the social media platform asking users whether or not they’d like to “reinstate former President Trump.” The post, which came amid fresh chaos at the company after Musk’s $44 billion takeover just three weeks ago, seemed likely to inflame concerns about disinformation …

The Daily Beast reports: Elon Musk received blowback from right-wing activists on Friday after responding “no” to a user urging the new Twitter chief to reinstate conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Almost immediately, right-wingers and members of the far-right called out Musk—who fashions himself a free-speech warrior. “Elon’s free speech claim quickly shown to be bullshit lol,” right-wing YouTuber Tim Pool …

Axios reports: Elon Musk on Friday announced Twitter would deemphasize “hate” or “negative” tweets and that it’s reinstated some accounts that had been suspended both before and after Musk acquired the company. Musk originally said he wouldn’t make any new content moderation decisions until a new “content moderation council” with “diverse views” convenes. To date, Musk has not publicly disclosed …

Reuters reports: Seven Democratic senators sent a letter on Thursday to the Federal Trade Commission, warning that Twitter, now owned by Elon Musk, was acting in disregard of users and urging the agency to investigate any breach of a consent decree that the FTC inked with Twitter. The lawmakers, including Senators Richard Blumenthal and Elizabeth Warren, asked the agency to …

The BBC reports: Twitter has told employees that the company’s office buildings will be temporarily closed, with immediate effect. 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 …

The New York Times reports: Hours before a Thursday deadline that Elon Musk had given Twitter employees to decide whether to stay or leave their jobs, the social media company appeared to be in disarray. Mr. Musk and his advisers held meetings with some Twitter workers whom they deemed “critical” to stop them from leaving. He sent out confusing messages …

Reuters reports: Elon Musk said on Wednesday he expected to reduce his time at Twitter and eventually find a new leader to run the social media company, adding that he hoped to complete an organizational restructuring this week. Musk made the remarks while testifying in a Delaware court to defend against claims that his $56 billion pay package at Tesla …

Politico reports: Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden said Elon Musk’s $44 billion purchase of Twitter needs a “careful review” by Congress, with a particular focus on the Saudi government’s large investment in the deal. “I’m on the Intelligence Committee. I’m chair of the Finance Committee. I’m not taking anything off the table right now,” Wyden (D-Ore.) said in an interview on …

Reuters reports: Billionaire Elon Musk said on Monday he was working “at the absolute most amount…from morning til night, seven days a week” when asked about his recent acquisition of Twitter and his leadership of automaker Tesla. “I have too much work on my plate that is for sure,” Musk said by videolink to a business conference on the sidelines …