DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ A laid-off Twitter manager says he saw almost his entire team of 150 people get fired in 4 hours just a week after Elon Musk bought the company
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A laid-off Twitter manager said he watched most of his team of 150 staff get fired in four hours. The first wave of Twitter layoffs happened on November 4. "Throughout about three to four hours, from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m., I saw most of my entire team get fired," Shevat said. Twitter sent Shevat an email to his personal account, saying the company had laid him off. According to Shevat, Twitter said he would receive information about the severance package the following week, but the company never sent it to him.

☆ Elon Musk tells journalists they won't get special treatment because they're just 'Twitter citizens'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk has said that journalists are "not special" and are "Twitter citizens." It comes after Twitter suspended the accounts of some journalists who reported on Musk. It comes after Twitter suspended several accounts of prominent journalists who reported on him, including those from The New York Times, The Washington Post, and CNN. "They're not special because you're a journalist," the billionaire said, adding that they're "just a Twitter citizen." CNN called the suspension of some of its journalists' accounts "concerning, but not surprising."

☆ Laid-off Twitter manager says he was told not to address employees' questions and concerns after Elon Musk's takeover, which felt 'evil'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-15 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

An ex-Twitter manager said being told to ignore his workers' concerns after Musk joined felt "evil." Shevat, who said he looked after 150 staff, told Insider he was laid off with most of his team. "Not only that, we were told as managers not to gather our team and address their questions and concerns. One day, Twitter told Shevat to "stack rank" his team from top to bottom. According to Shevat, Twitter leaders gave managers such as himself no answers about whether they should continue with the work they were doing.

Former President Donald Trump speaks on May 28, 2022 in Casper, Wyoming. Donald Trump on Thursday announced a series of aggressive and ambitious proposals to undo what he characterized as the suppression of free speech in the United States if he is elected president in 2024. Among other things, Trump vowed to "ban federal money from being used to label domestic speech as 'mis-' or 'dis-information,'" including federal subsidies and student loan support for universities. "When I'm president, this whole rotten system of censorship and information control will be ripped out of the system at large. Trump and other right-wing figures have for years claimed they are the victims of efforts to limit their speech by purported "deep-state" actors, mainstream media outlets and social media companies.

Less than a month after taking control of Twitter , Elon Musk said addressing child sexual exploitation content on the social media platform was "Priority #1." "It is a crime that they refused to take action on child exploitation for years!" Meanwhile, Twitter's resources to fight child sexual exploitation content online (and what is sometimes called child pornography or child sexual abuse materials) are thin, following layoffs, mass-firings and resignations from the company. Twitter's imperfect efforts fighting child sexual exploitation content were well documented. Stroppa said he felt Twitter's previous efforts were lacking and that it now moves quickly to find and suspend accounts that post child sexual exploitation content.

☆ Elon Musk sent an email threatening to sue Twitter staff who leak confidential information, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk sent an email threatening to sue Twitter staff who leak confidential information. He gave the employees until 5 p.m. on Saturday to sign a pledge, a source told Insider. A Twitter source also told Insider that Musk had sent the email to Twitter staff. One Twitter user quickly quipped: "Love that the email asking staffers to not leak information, got leaked." Twitter didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.

☆ Elon Musk told ex-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey 'almost no one was working on child safety' when he took over
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-10 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk tweeted it was a "crime" child safety wasn't prioritized at Twitter before he took over. Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey responded via Twitter that Musk's claim was "false". Musk doubled down and added it was his "top priority" with new trust and safety chief Ella Erwin. Dorsey responded that Musk's claim was "false." Musk contradicted Dorsey and said: "When Ella Irwin, who now runs Trust & Safety, joined Twitter earlier this year, almost no one was working on child safety."

☆ Former Twitter employees have filed another lawsuit against the company, saying it laid off an unfair share of women workers
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | Lakshmi Varanasi | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Former employees have since filed lawsuits against Twitter accusing it of various unfair practices. The lawsuit — filed in San Francisco Federal Court — alleges that Musk's new policies had a "disproportionate impact" on women. According to data analyzed in the lawsuit, Twitter laid off 57% of the its female employees and only 47% of its male employees. Former employees argue that Twitter provided them with less than the required 60-day notice and docked months of severance pay. Liss-Riordan noted that she had also filed a similar suit against Tesla over its layoffs in June 2022.

☆ Female Twitter staff had 'targets on their backs' in Elon Musk's layoffs, a lawsuit claimed
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-08 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Two women said in a lawsuit that female Twitter staff were "disproportionately targeted" for layoffs. Liss-Riordan said in an emailed statement to Insider: "Women at Twitter never had a decent shot at being treated fairly once Elon Musk decided to buy the company." The lawsuit contains this spreadsheet showing the number of Twitter staff affected by the layoffs. Liss-Riordan filed an amended complaint in a separate discrimination lawsuit against Twitter. It claimed that employees who were on or about to go on parental leave were disproportionately targeted for termination.

☆ An ex-senior Twitter employee laid off by Elon Musk says the way job cuts were executed was 'inhumane'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-07 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk's handling of Twitter's layoffs was "inhumane," an ex-Twitter worker said, per the LA Times. Some Twitter staff found out they'd been laid off when they were locked out of work laptops. Since losing his job, Shevat has filed arbitration claims against Elon Musk with the help of attorney Lisa Bloom, per the LA Times. "The way Elon Musk executed the layoffs was really inhumane," Shevat said in the conference, cited by the LA Times. Thousands of Twitter employees have been laid off, resigned, or fired since Musk took over.

☆ Elon Musk's business confidants are sleeping in new bedrooms at Twitter HQ that have been converted from unused offices. Musk is having one made for him.
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Kali Hays | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter HQ in San Francisco now has dozens of bedrooms that have been converted from unused offices. The change is an effort by Elon Musk to save costs when people come to work from out of town. Bedrooms complete with private showers and TV have arrived at Twitter HQ as Elon Musk continues to look for ways to reduce expenses. Dozens of unused offices in the San Francisco building have been turned into bedrooms over the last several days, two people familiar with the changes said. The billionaire has mentioned in emails and in all-hands meetings with Twitter employees that the company is in a "challenging" financial position.

☆ Elon Musk converts some Twitter offices into bedrooms at San Francisco HQ in light of 'hardcore' ultimatum, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk has fitted out Twitter's San Francisco headquarters with bedrooms, sources told Forbes. A trash can in one of the office bedrooms already had waste inside, indicating that an employee had used the amenities, the source added. "People are already putting in late nights, so it makes sense to an extent," the source told Forbes. Twitter failed to announce or explain the reasons behind the new office bedrooms to employees, one person familiar with the situation told Forbes. "It's not a good look," one source told Forbes.

☆ Twitter is now relying more on AI to identify harmful content, says its new trust and safety chief
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter's new trust and safety chief said it was relying more on AI to identify harmful content. Ella Irwin told Reuters Twitter favors restricting distribution rather than deleting certain content. Ella Irwin, the new head of trust and safety, is the first Twitter executive to give an interview since Elon Musk took over the company on October 27. "The biggest thing that's changed is the team is fully empowered to move fast and be as aggressive as possible," Irwin told the news agency. Irwin said that Twitter, in collaboration with cybersecurity group Ghost Data, took down about 44,000 accounts involved in child safety violations.

☆ Elon Musk has delayed Twitter's launch of its verified subscription service again as it tries to bypass Apple's 30% App Store fees, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk has once again postponed the launch of Twitter Blue, Platformer reported. Platformer reported the news on Tuesday. Although Musk said last week he planned to tentatively launch Twitter Blue on Friday, Platformer reported Twitter was prepared to go ahead as soon as Tuesday. "Product requirement updates: Will delay launch of Twitter Blue to make some tweaks," a Twitter product manager posted on Slack on Tuesday, Platformer reported. Twitter wasn't intending to offer Blue as an in-app purchase, Platformer reported, meaning the company would avoid Apple's 30% App Store charge when the service relaunches.

☆ Elon Musk says extending Twitter's character limit from 280 to 1,000 characters is on his to-do list
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk suggested that he planned to expand Twitter's tweet character limit to 1,000 characters. The Twitter owner replied to several users who had suggestions for the character limit. In response to a Twitter user's pitch about extending the character limit in each tweet to 1,000, Musk replied, saying "It's on the todo list." Another user suggested that Twitter should keep the tweet length at 280 characters, but allow long-form notes. The last time Twitter changed its character limit was in 2017 when the company increased the count from 140 to 280 characters.

☆ Elon Musk predicts 'Twitter 2.0' will have 1 billion users a month by 2024
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk said the number of users signing up to Twitter was at a record high. By 2024, he predicted that the social media platform would have a billion users a month. A leaked document showed Twitter was losing its most active "heavy tweeters," Reuters has reported. One of the graphs the Tesla and SpaceX CEO shared showed signups and active minutes were at a record high. Another slide that Musk shared stated that Twitter was now recruiting after mass layoffs and resignations.

☆ Elon Musk says Stephen King is 'one of most creative people on Earth' despite the author calling him a 'terrible fit' for Twitter
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-27 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk tweeted on Sunday that Stephen King is "one of the most creative people on Earth." It followed King's tweet commending Musk's Tesla work but calling him a "terrible fit" for Twitter. Musk went on to tweet he would welcome suggestions from the author on running Twitter. King tweeted on Saturday: "I think Elon Musk is a visionary. The following day, podcast host Graham Allen told Musk over Twitter to ignore King.

☆ A Twitter employee had to stop IVF treatment after being laid off by Elon Musk, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Twitter employee says she had to stop IVF treatment after being laid off by Elon Musk. She told Wired she was promised that health cover would continue for a year after a takeover. According to the report, some other Twitter employees managed to use their benefits to pay for a cycle of IVF treatment. The woman told Wired: "It's a heartbreaking thing to be honest ... to be that close to having a child then being told that it's gone." Twitter staff were offered a severance package of up to three months depending on their location.

☆ Elon Musk jokes that The Simpsons predicted he would buy Twitter in an episode that aired in 2015
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-26 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Elon Musk posted a picture on Saturday joking that The Simpsons predicted he would buy Twitter. Musk acquired Twitter on October 27 for $44 billion, seven years after the episode aired. Musk, who became Twitter's new owner after closing the acquisition deal on October 27, posted an image from a 2015 Simpson's episode featuring Musk. It seems unsurprising that Musk has drawn attention to an episode that one critic described as "more like a love letter to Musk than a proper Simpsons episode." Much like in The Simpsons' episode, some celebrities and politicians think Musk may have also gone too far with his ambitions for Twitter.

☆ Elon Musk says Twitter users will be able have a 'secondary tiny logo' showing they belong to a verified organization, amid tentative plans to launch Twitter Blue next week
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-25 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk said Twitter users can have a secondary tiny logo to show they belong to a verified organization. The announcement came after he said the company may unveil Twitter Blue, its new verified service, with different color checkmarks at the end of next week. "Individuals can have secondary tiny logo showing they belong to an org if verified as such by that org," he said, adding that he'd provide a longer explanation about the plans next week. In a separate tweet, he apologized for delaying the launch of Twitter Blue, which will charge users $8 a month. Shortly after, Twitter announced it would display blue and gray checkmarks to distinguish paid Twitter Blue checks from "official" verified accounts.

☆ Twitter reportedly scraps holiday pay for contractors as part of new rules that will begin during Thanksgiving
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-24 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter has cut holiday pay for contractors from Thanksgiving onwards, per a Platformer reporter. The measure will start during Thanksgiving, according to Schiffer. The Verge's Alex Heath said on Thursday that some Twitter engineers received an email on Wednesday evening, saying they were fired because their "code is not satisfactory." Twitter didn't immediately respond to Insider's request for comment made outside of normal US operating hours about the company reportedly cutting contractors' holiday pay and firing some engineers. Twitter said on Monday in a company email viewed by Insider's Kali Hays that it was facing "a challenging economic climate where greater attention to cost management is essential."

☆ Elon Musk refused to pay travel expenses that were racked up by Twitter execs before he took over, report says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Elon Musk has refused to pay Twitter's travel expenses incurred before his takeover, the NYT reports. Current and former Twitter staff told The Times that executives at the company racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel invoices before the billionaire's acquisition in late October. However, when Musk became the owner of Twitter, he refused to pay off these bills, the former and current employees told The Times. The Times didn't disclose an exact figure for the total amount of travel invoices. The email said travel for Twitter staff must be for "business-critical purposes," and managers have to approve the trip and estimated costs before any arrangements are made.

☆ Twitter loses another top exec who says workers 'had it good at Twitter 1.0,' in an apparent jab at Elon Musk's plans for the company
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Kate Duffy | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Twitter's head of US content partnerships announced she had left Elon Musk's platform. Sarah Rosen tweeted about her departure, writing "we had it good at Twitter 1.0." Per reports, Twitter also recently lost its head of ad sales, as well as its VP of partnerships. Her departure follows those of other executives who have left Twitter within the past few days. Maggie McLean Suniewick, vice president of partnerships, tweeted on Sunday about her departure from Twitter after having joined four months ago.

☆ Twitter's newest sales chief Chris Riedy is relocating from Dublin to San Francisco to try to revive its ailing ad business under Elon Musk
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Lara O'Reilly | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Chris Riedy is the latest executive to lead ad sales at Elon Musk's Twitter. He is replacing Robin Wheeler, who was let go after she refused to fire more people from a depleted ad sales team. Riedy hosted an all-hands meeting with Musk for Twitter's sales staff on Sunday. Another week under Elon's ownership, another ad sales chief at Twitter. Bloomberg also earlier reported that Musk didn't discuss the impending sales team layoffs that followed the call.

☆ Twitter staff tell colleagues who quit not to turn the situation into an 'us-vs-them Squid Game'
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-19 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Twitter staff tell colleagues who quit not to turn the situation into an "us-vs-them Squid Game." One said: "I just hate that he is the kind of person that makes me feel like everything is a trap." Employees took to the anonymous forum Blind to air their grievances and urge colleagues to understand why they may decide to stay on. Lets keep this about the people, and not turn it into us-vs-them Squid Game type of s**t," the user added. Another Blind user said he didn't click the link, responding to another user asking whether Twitter was worth joining.

Search resuls for: "Twitter didn't"

25 mentions found