The Wall Street Journal reports Elon Musk told Twitter employees on Thursday that on Friday he will begin the mass layoffs that he mentioned when taking over Twitter. Regulatory filings are pointing to between 2,000 and 3,750 employees are expected to be laid off. One of the main reasons for the mass layoffs is Musk’s dissatisfaction with Twitter’s decision to censor based on political reasons, and many jobs at Twitter had a hand in Twitter’s previous censorship.
While Musk doesn’t want Twitter to be completely uncensored, he doesn’t believe in the suspensions and bannings of accounts like the Babylon Bee and other right-wing accounts. Musk’s layoffs and other measures taken by Musk are an attempt to allow Twitter to be an online public square that allows people from all political beliefs to communicate openly, as opposed to the left-wing echo chamber Twitter has become in recent years.
Brietbart reports:
Employees should receive an email by 9:00 a.m. PT Friday about whether they are affected, according to the email seen by the Journal.
Employees of Twitter have been preparing for layoffs since Musk’s takeover was announced. One Twitter investor said that up to 50 percent of staffers could be dismissed, and employees would be evaluated to determine how many would be terminated.
Multiple journalists and outlets posted what they claim to be the communication alerting employees of the impending layoffs on Thursday.
Elon Musk has long dismissed managerial positions as unimportant, instead favoring skilled technicians. Shortly after taking over Twitter, he posted, “There seem to be 10 people ‘managing’ for every one person coding,” in response to a user who asked what he considered Twitter’s biggest issue.
Employees at Twitter reported that more than 1,000 people had lost their jobs as of 11:00 p.m. PT on Thursday night, based on messages seen by Business Insider and interviews with employees. Workers failed to gain access to services such as Slack and email starting around 8:00 p.m. PT.
Elon’s Twitter takeover have many Republicans hopeful that a less biased social media platform will allow right-wingers and right-wing politicians to post the same way left-wing Twitter accounts are able to. Accounts dedicated to left-wing politics have been rarely if ever suspended by Twitter and right-wing accounts have had to walk on eggshells to keep their accounts from being suspended. The banning of Donald Trump, while he was the sitting President of the United States, is the most concerning banning Twitter has chosen to do previous to Elon Musk’s takeover. Twitter’s ability to ban the sitting President shows the power they are able to utilize for political gain, and the hope is that after the Musk takeover of Twitter, days like this have come to an end.
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