The claim comes (on Twitter, of course) from Richie Assaly, digital producer for the Toronto Star, who says he previously worked as a member of the editorial team. Assaly says “team leaders, management and curators are posting that they’ve been fired.” The move, if true, “will make Twitter noisier, more dangerous and less interesting,” he argues. Looks like Elon Musk fired his entire team of editors. These were the people who countered misinformation, built conversations through the Explore page, and helped make Twitter an unparalleled source for breaking news. This will make Twitter noisier, more dangerous and less interesting — Richie Assaly (@rdassaly) November 4, 2022 Musk, in his tweet accusing “activist groups” of pressuring advertisers to pull off Twitter, causing a “massive” drop in revenue, insisted: “Nothing has changed with content retention.” Updated at 16:40 GMT Important events BETA filters Key Events (23) Twitter (19) United Kingdom (17) Elon Musk (15) USA (13) Bank of England (7) This tweet from fired employee Aakash Raina appears to confirm that Elon Musk has fired at least some members of Twitter’s content coordination team. It also directly contradicts Twitter’s billionaire owner’s claim in his own tweet earlier Friday that “nothing has changed with content moderation.” Elon Musk was busy this morning at an investment conference in New York City talking about finance and economics as thousands of his Twitter followers waited to learn their fate. The billionaire businessman was at the 29th annual Baron Investor Conference in Manhattan, speaking with company chairman and CEO Ron Baron, a major shareholder in Musk’s electric car company Tesla. Baron Capital Group chairman and CEO Ron Baron interviews Elon Musk in New York on Friday morning. Photo: AP We don’t yet know how their conversation went, but according to Baron an appearance on CNBC on Thursday indicated that they would talk about Tesla, SpaceX and Musk’s provision of Starlink internet service to Ukraine as it fights the country’s invasion from Russia. Baron said he supported Musk’s vision for Twitter, including today’s layoff of thousands of employees. Elon Musk arrives at the Baron investment conference in Manhattan, jogging into the building through a side door. Photo: Andrew Kelly/Reuters Updated at 17:24 GMT
Twitter security chief adds ‘context’ to Musk’s ‘activist groups’ post
Without any discernible trace of irony, Twitter added “context” to Elon Musk’s earlier tweet accusing “activist groups” of pressuring advertisers to pull out of its newly acquired social media platform, leading to a “massive drop in revenue.” The note attached to Musk’s tweet adds links to three news articles that refer to “advertisers who have suspended or canceled ad buys due to concern about the direction of the Twitter platform” rather than pressure from any outside entities seeking influence. Twitter added ‘context’ to Elon Musk’s tweet. Photo: @elonmusk/Twitter Twitter’s watchdog, @twittersafety, informs users that “context” is sometimes added to a post when there is “potentially misleading content”. We’re waiting to hear if Musk will react to stepping down from the tech behemoth he now owns. Adding context to potentially misleading content is more critical than ever. Starting today, we’re making @Birdwatch notes on Tweets visible to some people in the US https://t.co/1jfiDUsApL — Twitter Safety (@TwitterSafety) March 3, 2022 Updated at 17:13 GMT Joe Middleton A former senior Twitter community manager told the Guardian how he found out about his sacking after his laptop data was suddenly wiped an hour after he finished his last shift. Simon Balmain, who has worked at the company for about a year, dealing mainly with clients on the US West Coast, said he was “shocked but not surprised” by the sudden job cuts: I had finished work but still had my laptop open and we all got an email from the company about downsizing. An hour later my laptop flashed and wiped, I could no longer access my apps. Balmain said reports of the firing of Twitter’s anti-disinformation curation team “carried real risks going forward”. He added: I’ve spoken to a few people in the same position as me and what’s very apparent is that we had a very good company culture and people really looked out for each other, including ex-employees who reached out and offered support. Balmain believes Twitter will focus on two strategies to make money: products that users pay for, such as Twitter Blue, and the $8 monthly fee that Musk has floated for user verification. and creative projects where users pay other users, such as celebrities or influencers. Read more: Here’s our latest report on Friday’s developments at Twitter, including Elon Musk’s claim that “activist groups pushing advertisers” are responsible for a “massive drop in revenue” since he bought the company. Twitter employees have told us they’ve been locked out of their work laptops and email accounts, and there are reports from inside the company that Musk has fired the platform’s entire editorial team. As my colleague Dan Milmo explains, the curation team “plays a key role in coverage of ‘civic integrity’ events such as elections, breaking news and sports, ensuring users have vetted the information presented as products of moments, trends and issues. It is seen internally as a key filter against misleading posts.” Read the full report here: While we wait for news on the extent of today’s layoffs, here’s the life account of one employee who opened his eyes to Twitter’s new bubble after Elon Musk bought it, as reported by Business Insider. It tells of staff purges that have already taken place. group leaders who form their own cliques. a threatening atmosphere from the “roaming” managers. and people are quick to wean off their new boss even though they’ve never met him. The insider says: It made me crazy to see this little faction of Elon’s fledgling followers suddenly rise up and try to make their voices heard. The amount of ass-kissing and the amount of weird Reddit, 4chan-style stuff like “oh Elon, I’ll be your right hand man” on Blind during those first few days after the deal closed — it was scary. I thought, “I don’t want to work with these clowns.” The employee adds that he has heard stories of people being asked to work “literally around the clock,” and engineers asked to be on call over the weekend and asked to do things immediately, “at three or four in the morning.” “I can’t keep doing this. I’ve started interviewing elsewhere,” says the employee. Business Insider notes that Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.
Report: Musk fires Twitter curation team to tackle misinformation
There are still unverified speculations that Elon Musk has fired Twitter’s curation team, which is responsible for tackling misinformation posted on the social network. The claim comes (on Twitter, of course) from Richie Assaly, digital producer for the Toronto Star, who says he previously worked as a member of the editorial team. Assaly says “team leaders, management and curators are posting that they’ve been fired.” The move, if true, “will make Twitter noisier, more dangerous and less interesting,” he argues. Looks like Elon Musk fired his entire team of editors. These were the people who countered misinformation, built conversations through the Explore page, and helped make Twitter an unparalleled source for breaking news. This will make Twitter noisier, more dangerous and less interesting — Richie Assaly (@rdassaly) November 4, 2022 Musk, in his tweet accusing “activist groups” of pressuring advertisers to pull off Twitter, causing a “massive” drop in revenue, insisted: “Nothing has changed with content retention.” Updated at 16:40 GMT
Musk: Twitter revenue down as ‘activist groups pressure advertisers’
Elon Musk tweeted that Twitter saw a drop in revenue due to “activist groups” putting pressure on advertisers. He says: “Twitter has had a huge drop in revenue due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we’ve done everything we can to appease activists.” Twitter has seen a huge drop in revenue due to activist groups pressuring advertisers, even though nothing has changed with content moderation and we’ve done everything we can to appease the activists. Extremely confusing! They are trying to destroy free speech in America. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2022 It’s true that some big companies have put advertising on hold, like General Mills and General Motors and now Volkswagen. But as my colleague Kari Paul writes, it reflects concerns about how Musk will run Twitter: The growing exodus of advertisers comes amid concerns that Musk will crack down on misinformation and security protections on the platform. As civil rights groups question potential moderation issues, companies are considering whether staying on Twitter could tarnish their brands. Shortly before taking over the San Francisco company last week, Musk made a promise to advertisers that he would not allow Twitter to become a “free-for-all hell,” a sign that there would still be consequences for those who break its rules against of harassment. violence or elections and disinformation related to Covid. Since then, however, some users have been posting racist slurs and recirculating long-debunked conspiracy theories in an apparent attempt to see if the site…
