Some of the users posting felt emboldened by Musk’s “ free speech absolutist” attitude, and actively tried to test the limits of what they could say on Twitter under the company’s new leadership. While Musk didn’t immediately change any of Twitter’s policies against offensive content, in the hours after Musk took over there was a notable surge in hate speech on the app. Twitter’s advertisers, meanwhile are reportedly fleeing the platform because they’re concerned about the resurgence of hate speech under Musk’s “free speech absolutist” policies.Īnd his new check mark system - Musk’s first major product update - caused chaos in the hours after its release, as newly checkmarked users flooded the app with fake accounts, impersonating figures from Nintendo’s Mario character to former US President George W. In the past two months, Musk has gutted Twitter’s staff, reportedly including some key engineering functions, causing concerns about the site’s technical ability to stay up and running. Musk would be leaving Twitter a more precarious company than he found it. His announcement came less than two days after he ran a Twitter poll asking people if he should step down, and a clear majority voted in favor of him leaving.

On December 20, Musk confirmed that he will step down as chief executive of Twitter as soon as he finds a replacement, and will eventually run its “software & servers” teams. And that was all before he allowed former president Donald Trump back on the app, reversing Trump’s former ban on the platform, and then declared “amnesty” for previously suspended accounts.Īmid all the chaos, it’s unclear how long Musk will even stay on as CEO of the social media company. But already, he’s turned the company and its platform upside down.Īlmost immediately after he took over, Musk booted top executives, slashed rank-and-file headcount by 50 percent, issued remaining employees an ultimatum to be “hardcore” in their work ethic or quit, and fast-tracked a hodgepodge of potentially revenue-generating features, including charging users to get or keep a verification check mark. Elon Musk has only been in charge of Twitter since late October.

Twitter video down