As part of new owner Elon Musk’s ongoing changes, more Twitter employees were laid off Thursday, including from the public policy and media and entertainment teams, according to tweets from affected employees.
The members of Twitter’s public policy team that remained after last month’s mass layoffs have again been halved to about 15 employees, a former employee with knowledge of the layoffs told CNN.
Among the public policy team’s responsibilities is working with external advisory groups such as the Twitter Trust and Safety Council, which the company disbanded earlier this month.
The area also manages human rights programs to protect vulnerable users such as activists, engages in transparency efforts, works with government agencies, and helps ensure compliance with global regulations.
The public policy team had more than 60 people before Musk’s takeover, the former employee said.
The departures came after Musk laid off about half of Twitter’s workforce shortly after its takeover and later laid off additional employees, including through an ultimatum requiring them to work “hard” or leave the company.
Musk’s team – looking to cut costs at the struggling company the billionaire bought for $44 billion – has continued to lay off hundreds of additional Twitter employees since then, including top engineers and legal talent, according to the former employee and several recent reports.
More than 100 former Twitter employees have filed arbitration claims or are participating in proposed class action lawsuits related to the layoffs.
The latest round of layoffs could further affect Twitter’s ability to protect top users and comply with regulations amid heightened scrutiny of the company following the Musk acquisition.
Thierry Breton a senior European Union official, warned Musk at a meeting last month that the social media platform must take significant steps to comply with EU content moderation laws and that European authorities will closely monitor compliance.
Musk has agreed to allow authorities to “stress test” the social media platform for compliance with the Digital Services Act, Europe’s new platform regulation, early next year.
Twitter also continues to struggle with the departure of many of its advertisers, who provide most of the company’s revenue.
As of Dec. 17, 72 of Twitter’s top 100 advertisers had paused ad campaigns on the platform, according to an analysis by digital marketing intelligence firm Pathmatics provided to CNN.
Meanwhile, Musk may be considering finding someone else to head up the social platform after Twitter users over the weekend voted for him to step down as CEO.
Musk tweeted this week that he would step down as “as soon as he finds someone foolish enough to take the job!”
Source: CNN Brasil
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