Oct 28 (Reuters) – Mere hours after Elon Musk kicked off a brand new period at Twitter Inc, the billionaire proprietor was deluged with pleas and calls for from banned account holders and world leaders.
The flood of requests underscore the problem the CEO of electrical automotive maker Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) faces, balancing a promise to revive free speech whereas stopping the platform from descending right into a “hellscape,” as he had vowed in an open letter to advertisers on Thursday.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump, who was completely banned from Twitter over accusations of inciting violence after the Jan. 6, 2021 capitol riots, welcomed the takeover, however mentioned little a few return to Twitter. “I’m very pleased that Twitter is now in sane arms, and can now not be run by Radical Left Lunatics and Maniacs who really hate our nation.” learn extra
Dmitry Medvedev, former Russia president and present deputy chairman of Russia’s Safety Council, tweeted his congratulations: “Good luck @elonmusk in overcoming political bias and ideological dictatorship on Twitter. And stop that Starlink in Ukraine enterprise.”
Others requested Musk to reverse penalties inflicted by the social media platform. In response to @catturd2, an nameless account with 852,000 followers, recognized for being an enormous supporter of Trump’s election fraud claims, and who mentioned it was “shadowbanned,” Musk tweeted “I shall be digging in additional right this moment.”
The editor-in-chief of Russian state-controlled broadcaster RT, Margarita Simonyan, asked Musk to “unban RT and Sputnik accounts and take the shadow ban off mine as effectively?”
The strain is mounting on Musk and Twitter as he’s set to handle the Twitter employees on Friday after closing the deal.
“Hey @ElonMusk, now that you simply personal Twitter, will you assist combat again in opposition to Trudeau’s on-line censorship invoice C-11?” tweeted Canada Proud, a corporation working to vote out Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
“First I’ve heard,” Musk responded in a tweet on Friday.
DAY ONE
A number of staff who spoke with Reuters on Friday mentioned there had been no communication from administration about what occurs subsequent.
Musk was anticipated to handle staff on Friday, however the staff mentioned that they had not obtained any discover by the late afternoon.
Two sources conversant in the matter mentioned Musk’s groups had been investigating Twitter’s code and asking questions on how features of the platform work.
Musk appeared to have joined the corporate’s Slack channel by Friday, in accordance with a screenshot seen by Reuters.
Musk additionally tweeted on Friday that Twitter will type a “content material moderation council with broadly numerous viewpoints,” and that no main choices on moderation or account reinstatements shall be made earlier than it convenes.
Regardless of an attraction to advertisers on Thursday that he hoped to make Twitter “essentially the most revered promoting platform on the planet,” not less than one main automaker – GM (GM.N) – mentioned it briefly paused its promoting and was working to “perceive the route of the platform underneath their new possession.”
Staff additionally continued to stress about the way forward for their jobs. Fewer than 10% of 266 Twitter staff who participated in a ballot on messaging app Blind anticipated to nonetheless have their jobs in three months. Blind permits staff to air grievances anonymously after they enroll with company emails.
Musk fired Twitter Chief Government Parag Agrawal, Chief Monetary Officer Ned Segal and authorized affairs and coverage chief Vijaya Gadde, in accordance with folks conversant in the matter. He had accused them of deceptive him and Twitter buyers over the variety of pretend accounts on the platform.
Agrawal and Segal had been in Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters when the deal closed and had been escorted out, the sources added.
Musk, who additionally runs rocket firm SpaceX, plans to grow to be Twitter’s interim CEO, in accordance with an individual conversant in the matter and following an earlier report by Reuters. Musk additionally plans to scrap everlasting bans on customers, Bloomberg mentioned, citing an individual conversant in the matter.
Twitter, Musk and the executives didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
‘CHIEF TWIT’
Earlier than closing the deal, Musk walked into Twitter’s headquarters on Wednesday with an enormous grin and a porcelain sink, subsequently tweeting “let that sink in.” He modified his Twitter profile description to “Chief Twit.”
European regulators additionally reiterated previous warnings that, underneath Musk’s management, Twitter should nonetheless abide by the area’s Digital Providers Act, which levies hefty fines on firms if they don’t management unlawful content material.
“In Europe, the fowl will fly by our EU guidelines,” EU business chief Thierry Breton tweeted on Friday morning.
European Parliament lawmaker and civil rights proponent Patrick Breyer instructed folks search for options the place privateness is a precedence.
“Twitter already is aware of our personalities dangerously effectively as a consequence of its pervasive surveillance of our each click on. Now this data shall be falling into Musk’s arms.”
Musk has indicated he sees Twitter as a basis for making a “tremendous app” that gives the whole lot from cash transfers to buying and ride-hailing.
However Twitter is struggling to interact its most lively customers who’re important to the enterprise. These “heavy tweeters” account for lower than 10% of month-to-month total customers however generate 90% of all tweets and half of worldwide income.
Musk will face a problem constructing income “on condition that the controversial opinions he seems to need to give extra of a free rein to are sometimes unpalatable to advertisers,” mentioned Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter.
As information of the deal unfold, some Twitter customers had been fast to flag their willingness to stroll away.
“I shall be pleased to go away in a heartbeat if Musk, effectively, acts as all of us anticipate him to,” mentioned a consumer with the @mustlovedogsxo account.
Reporting by Sheila Dang in Dallas; further reporting by David Shepardson and Katie Paul; Modifying by Kenneth Li, Nick Zieminski, Deepa Babington and Jacqueline Wong
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