San Francisco:
Elon Musk’s ownership of Twitter sank deeper and deeper into chaos on Thursday as key security executives resigned from the platform and received a stark warning from US regulators.
The strikes came a day after the chaotic launch of new features introduced by Tesla and SpaceX owner Musk following his $44 billion buyout of the influential messaging app.
Musk warned workers Thursday that the site was dangerously burning with cash, raising the specter of bankruptcy if the situation was not reversed.
“I have made the difficult decision to leave Twitter,” tweeted chief security officer Lea Kissner, who has reportedly stepped down with other key privacy or security executives.
In the most extraordinary exit, US media reported that Yoel Roth, the site’s head of trust and security, stepped down just a day after vigorously defending Musk’s content moderation policy to advertisers.
Robin Wheeler also played a key role in linking Twitter to advertisers and was considered a key ally to Musk within the company.
The chaos followed the unveiling of the site’s highly anticipated Twitter Blue subscription service, which allows users to pay $7.99 per month for a coveted blue tick, as well as a separate gray “official” badge for some high-profile accounts.
But the release fell into a cacophony on Wednesday as Musk almost immediately scrapped the new gray label and overshadowed the launch of the payment service, which is currently only available on the mobile app on iPhones and in the United States.
The launch also saw the rise of a flurry of fake accounts as users took the opportunity to impersonate celebrities and politicians such as NBA star Lebron James or former British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
– ‘Deep concern’ –
The chaos sparked a rare warning from the Federal Trade Commission, the US consumer safety authority, which had been monitoring Twitter for past security and privacy breaches.
“We are following recent developments at Twitter with great concern,” an FTC spokesperson said in a statement.
“No CEO or company is above the law, and companies must follow our consent decisions,” the spokesperson added, citing Twitter’s past commitments to comply with US privacy rules.
Violating FTC decisions could cost Twitter millions of dollars in fines.
The Tesla and SpaceX boss fired half of the California company’s 7,500 employees a week ago, ten days after he bought the site and became sole owner.
For the first time since the layoffs, Musk spoke to his remaining employees on Thursday, urging them to help the site reach a billion users, according to text messages from employees seen by AFP.
Musk also warned that the company was losing money and expressed fear about the effects of the bad economy on his newly acquired company.
“You may have noticed that I sold a lot of Tesla stock. The reason I did is to save Twitter,” he is said to have said.
Twitter has also been crippled by advertisers’ decision to stay away from the site, concerned about Musk’s plans.
The tycoon announced he was ending the work-from-home policy on Twitter, which was a widespread practice at the San Francisco-based company.
“If you don’t show up at the office, your dismissal will be accepted,” he told employees.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)
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