Former Twitter CEO Apologizes To Twitter Employees After Thousands Laid Off

The founder and former CEO of Twitter apologized on Saturday to the social media company's employees a day after thousands were laid off. In a series of tweets, Jack Dorsey wrote that he "grew the company size too quickly."

"Folks at Twitter past and present are strong and resilient," he wrote. "They will always find a way no matter how difficult the moment. I realize many are angry with me. I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologize for that."

"I am grateful for, and love, everyone who has ever worked on Twitter," he added. "I don't expect that to be mutual in this moment...or ever…and I understand."

Since Elon Musk purchased the company for $44 billion a week ago, his team has made a series of changes. On Friday, the company wrote an email to its employees, saying job reductions were "necessary to ensure the company's success moving forward." According to reports from Reuters and other media outlets, Musk was looking to lay off as much as half of Twitter's roughly 7,500 employees as he seeks to make the social media platform profitable. 

Several of Twitter's top executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal, were also fired after Musk took control.

Musk is considering adding a fee for accounts with the blue verification badge. The new strategy, he said, would give Twitter a revenue stream to reward content creators. Opponents of the approach say it will make it easier for users to spread disinformation or to impersonate someone else on Twitter. Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez mocked the idea of Musk charging user fees.

Many worry that overhauling Twitter will lead to an explosion of hate speech and spam on the platform. Under Musk's ownership, Twitter has seen a significant spike in hate speech, according to a new study. Researchers from Montclair State University found that the 12 hours immediately following Musk's ascension to ownership saw a much more "hostile" environment on Twitter. 

"These issues aren't new, and the people targeted by hateful conduct aren't numbers or data points. We're going to continue investing in policy and technology to make things better," Yoel Roth, Twitter's head of safety and security, tweeted on Monday.

Musk has not explicitly said what will be tolerated on the platform since the surge began, although he retweeted Roth's statements about the surge. Last week, Musk said that Twitter will form a "content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints" and that no major content decisions would be made before that council can convene. 

"Twitter will not allow anyone who was de-platformed for violating Twitter rules back on platform until we have a clear process for doing so, which will take at least a few more weeks," Musk said Tuesday night. "Twitter's content moderation council will include representatives with widely divergent views, which will certainly include the civil rights community and groups who face hate-fueled violence."

First published on November 5, 2022 / 2:45 PM

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