Elon Musk has publicly clashed with a growing number of Twitter employees over the state of the platform and has fired at least one of them in a tweet, in an unusually visible sign of corporate chaos following his acquisition of the influential company for $44 billion.
On Monday, Musk got into a dispute with software engineer Eric Frohnhoefer on Twitter that ended with the billionaire tweeting “he’s fired” and Frohnhoefer confirming that he had lost access to Twitter’s internal systems.
The public termination came after Frohnhoefer tweeted evidence suggesting Musk was “wrong” about his claims that the social media platform was working, in the billionaire’s words, “super slow” in several countries.
The engineer told CNN on Monday night (14) that he found out about the firing when a friend sent him Musk’s tweet and said that “nobody reached out to me on Twitter.” Frohnhoefer added that he was “willing to try” under Musk and described himself as “in wait-and-see camp” but that “everything that has been reported is true”. He described working for Musk as a “total shit show” and the current state of affairs as pure “chaos”.
At least one employee who chimed in to offer context on the matter was also fired Tuesday morning, according to a tweet from that employee.
And a handful of other Twitter employees said Tuesday on the platform that they were fired over an email that said their “behavior violated company policy,” with some speculating that the move may have been a reaction to comments he made. did in internal Slack channels.
Sources tell CNN that employees over the past few days have been very vocal in their criticism of Musk on the company’s Slack. (CNN has reached out to terminated employees to confirm.)
In response to a tweet about news of the layoffs on Tuesday, Musk said: “I would like to apologize for firing these geniuses. His immense talent will no doubt be of great use elsewhere.”
The layoffs came after Musk cut half of Twitter’s staff and reportedly many of its contractors in a way that many critics described as careless and could put the platform at risk.
Musk’s retribution for those who disagree with him also comes as he consolidates his control over the company, ousting top Twitter executives and eliminating its board of directors.
In their absence, Musk now runs Twitter with help from friends Jason Calacanis and David Sacks; his personal attorney Alex Spiro; and, allegedly, engineers borrowed from some of his other companies, including Tesla.
In addition to the public backlash, some Twitter employees appear to have been trying to appeal to Musk and his inner circle in private as they weigh numerous disturbing changes to the platform.
An internal document obtained by CNN indicates that employees raised concerns to Musk and others about some of the fallout likely to occur if Twitter launched its new $8-a-month paid verification service.
The document, dated Nov. 1 and proving prescient in its predictions, provides a list of recommendations on how to avoid the most extreme potential consequences of launching a subscription where anyone can pay $8 to receive a checkmark. verified.
“Legacy verification provides a critical signal in the enforcement of representation rules, the loss of which is likely to lead to an increase in representation of high-profile accounts on Twitter,” the document states, adding that such issues could result in a loss of trust among users. high profile.
He also raised concerns that the service could result in a “pay-to-play” system, in which key voices unable or unwilling to pay for a subscription, such as “individuals in sanctioned countries (including dissidents and activists)” could be deprioritised.
Esther Crawford, a product manager at Twitter who is now leading the Twitter Blue subscription service upgrade, was briefed on the document ahead of the launch of the paid verification option last week, as were Musk and his lawyer Alex Spiro, a source said. to CNN. Digital news outlet Platformer was the first to report details of the document.
Within hours of launching the paid verification system last week, Twitter was hit with a wave of celebrities and corporate impersonators on its platform who quickly bypassed the system, potentially increasing uncertainty among advertisers, who represent nearly every business in the world. Twitter.
The paid subscription service was suspended on Friday with little notice. It was not immediately clear when the company might restore the offer.
Correction: An earlier version of this story referred to a criticism of Musk from a Twitter user who described himself as an employee of the platform, but does not actually work for the company.
Source: CNN Brasil
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