Musk's 'snap' caused Twitter chaos

Twitter confirmed a 50% cut of 7,500 employees. Many people are blocked from accessing the system before even receiving the dismissal email.

In a tweet late on Wednesday, Twitter 's head of safety and integrity, Yoel Roth, said that employees who are not part of the company's growth plan have started receiving notices of severance. About 15% of the first staff are on the Trust and Safety team, the team responsible for preventing the spread of misinformation and harmful content. This is also Twitter's first confirmation of the layoffs after Elon Musk took over the company.

Elon Musk. Photo: FT

Despite leaving a large number of staff on the Trust and Safety team, Roth insists Twitter still controls the platform. "With the midterm elections in the US just days away, fighting harmful disinformation remains a top priority," he said.

On the same day, Musk tweeted that Twitter "experienced a massive drop in revenue". According to Reuters , this comes as a series of leading companies suspend advertising contracts on social networks due to concerns that content censorship on the platform is affected.

In an interview at an investor conference on November 4, Musk shared his goal of building a low-cost electric car, and his ambition to conquer Mars. When it came to Twitter, Musk said he was "trying to get out of the deal", but later stressed the company "has the potential to be the most valuable business in the world". When it comes to having "half of Twitter" quit. Musk nodded, saying nothing more.

The drastic move of the Twitter boss is likened by many to the "snap of Thanos" - the villain in the Avengers movie that makes half of humanity disappear.

Employees who were fired 'didn't have time to react'

On the morning of November 4, many Twitter employees were "surprised" by the company's treatment of them: They were automatically removed from the internal chat group, unable to access company email and system login accounts. Several sources told CNN , the departments most affected are AI ethics, marketing and communications, search, public policy and health. Members of the curation team - the team that controlled trusted information on the platform, including election content - were also fired.

"I've just been remotely logged out of my laptop and also removed from Slack groups," a Twitter employee said on her personal page. "It's sad that it ended this way."

According to an internal email obtained by CNN , "to help ensure the safety" of Twitter's employees and systems, corporate offices "will be temporarily closed and all access will be suspended." .

Simon Balmain, Twitter's senior community manager who was fired yesterday, said he lost access to Slack, email and other internal systems about eight hours before receiving the official notice of dismissal. He also stressed the dismissal email "still doesn't really give any details" about why he had to quit.

"The wave of frustration and disappointment is spreading. The solidarity that has maintained for many years is broken," Balmain said.

However, there are also people who feel happy about being fired. "The past few days have been a nightmare for me. For me, safety will be punishment," one employee shared.

Employee sues Twitter

Unexpectedly fired from their jobs, many employees gathered to file a lawsuit in the California state court. According to the group, Twitter violated the WARN Act, which requires employers with more than 100 employees to provide 60-day written notice before mass layoffs, as well as layoffs that affect up to 50 or more employees at one work site.

Meanwhile, a number of other law offices have also received requests from Twitter employees, mainly related to their unexpected termination of employment. "Ex-Twitter employees have contacted us about their circumstances," confirmed Chauniqua Young of law firm Outten & Golden.

Terri Gerstein, a professor at Harvard Law School, said that the current staff is not sure about their position, and the newcomers don't dare to join the company. "Once you treat people how, they will remember it. For those who stay, certainly no one feels secure with their work," Gerstein commented.