Twitter: the fate of the social network hangs in the balance after Elon Musk’s ultimatum

future Twitter seemed to be hanging by a thread on Friday after its offices were closed and key employees quit despite an ultimatum from the new owner, the mogul. Elon Musk.

According to former employees and various U.S. media outlets, hundreds of employees said “no” to an ultimatum from the new owner and boss, who gave them the choice between working tirelessly and “building Twitter 2.0 revolutionary”, or leave with a three-month salary.

Musk, also patron Tesla D SpaceXhas been criticized since taking over the leadership Twitter when buying it for $44 billion.

Half of the California group’s 7,500 employees were laid off two weeks ago, and at least another 700 had already left during the boreal summer, before they were sure the sale would go through.

“My friends are gone, a storm is coming, and there is no financial incentive. What would you do?”he tweeted Peter Close engineer who rejected Musk’s ultimatum.

The mogul’s attempts to re-verify users with the controversial subscription service have spawned a slew of fake accounts and scams and forced major advertisers to abandon the platform.

On Friday, Musk appeared to go ahead with his plans and reinstate the previously suspended accounts, with the exception of the former president. Donald Trumpwhich was blocked after the storming of the Capitol in 2021.

Trump has not been decided yetsaid Musk, the richest man in the world.

“Offices closed”

“What is Twitter to do now?”he tweeted Elon Musk on Friday.

Ever since he took the reins Twitterthe mogul mobilized teams around the clock for controversial projects that had to be shelved, launched a massive social plan before he had to call back important people, and made promises to advertisers by threatening them.

On Thursday evening, many social media users, including former employees, journalists and analysts, wondered if the Twitter it would be close

The mogul, in turn, tweeted a well-known meme of the actor posing on a grave. Both the man and the headstone were covered in the blue bird logo. Twitter. The post got over a million likes.

In a follow-up tweet sent on Friday, he noted: “A record number of users are logging in to find out if Twitter is dead, which ironically makes it more alive than ever!”.

On Thursday afternoon, Twitter warned all employees that the company’s buildings were temporarily closed and inaccessible even for card entry. identification, according to an internal memo released by various US media outlets.

“Forward to Bankruptcy”

Evening anti Elon Musk on the facade of the company’s headquarters in San Francisco, next to the logo, including “Elon Musk, shut up”, “Stop toxic twitter” or “Forward to Bankruptcy”judging by the photos Gia Wangcorrespondent NBC local.

Dozens of social network employees met on Thursday evening at “Spaces”platform audio rooms to support each other and tell jokes.

Employees who chose to stay spoke of their unwavering commitment to the company and their desire to see it survive and even revive.

“Bravo to all Twitter workers. You have created a vital place to connect and deserve more. (…) Thanks”.— wrote on Twitter MP from the Democratic Party. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortezalong the way, pointing out where they might find it on other platforms if Twitter closed.

Other lawmakers and regulators have raised concerns that the service’s ability to moderate content could be compromised.

US senators have warned that the plans Elon Musk “undermine the integrity and security of the platform.”

Billionaire ‘can’t do what he wants’ in Europe, Frenchman stressed on Friday Thierry BretonEuropean Commissioner for the Internal Market, on Radio Franceinfo.

“He knows what the conditions are for the continuation of work Twitter in Europe”he added, insisting on the need to recruit more moderators, not fire them. (AFP)

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