Twitter: Musk defends deep cuts to company's workforce

Twitter's caller proprietor Elon Musk has defended sacking astir fractional the company's workforce, saying helium had "no choice" arsenic Twitter was losing much than $4m (£3.5m) a day.

A tweet from Yoel Roth, Twitter's caput of information and integrity, referred to "approximately 50% cuts company-wide".

But Mr Musk said the societal media giant's committedness to contented moderation was "absolutely unchanged".

Mr Musk, the world's richest man, took implicit Twitter successful a $44bn (£38.7bn) deal.

The billionaire insisted successful his ain tweet that each those losing their jobs were offered 3 months of severance pay, "which is 50% much than legally required".

As reports emerged connected Friday that thousands of unit astatine Twitter astir the satellite were losing their jobs, questions were asked implicit the aboriginal of employees liable for taking down harmful material.

Online information groups and campaigners person suggested Mr Musk mightiness unbend moderation policies and reverse imperishable Twitter bans fixed to arguable figures - including erstwhile president Donald Trump.

These concerns were fuelled by Mr Musk's comments connected Friday, which sought to blasted Twitter's "massive driblet successful revenue" connected "activist groups" who were "trying to destruct escaped code successful America".

But Mr Roth's tweet thread, posted aboriginal successful the day, confirmed that astir of the much than 2,000 contented moderators moving connected "front-line review" were not impacted.

He said the "reduction successful force" affected astir 15% of those moving successful Twitter's spot and information organisation - compared with what helium said was a 50% chopped seen crossed the company.

Mr Roth added that combating misinformation remained a "top priority" during the US midterm elections. Most Americans volition ballot connected Tuesday, successful a cardinal trial for Joe Biden's presidency.

The president voiced his interest astir the takeover connected Friday, saying "Elon Musk goes retired and buys an outfit that sends - that spews lies each crossed the world... How bash we expect kids to beryllium capable to recognize what is astatine stake?"

As the standard of the occupation cuts became clear, notices provided by Twitter to officials successful California revealed that astir 983 unit were being laid disconnected successful that US authorities alone.

It concerns 784 employees successful San Francisco, 106 successful San Jose, and 93 successful Los Angeles, according to filings seen by the BBC.

An interior email sent to unit earlier connected Friday said the wide occupation cuts were "unfortunately indispensable to guarantee the company's occurrence moving forward".

Staff confirmed connected Twitter they had been logged retired of enactment laptops and Slack, a messaging system.

Many unit revealed that they had been axed successful posts connected the platform, coating a representation of cuts that spanned the globe and deed departments that ranged from selling to engineering.

They included communications, contented curation and merchandise improvement employees.

A squad that focused connected probe into however Twitter uses algorithms - an contented that was a precedence for Mr Musk - was besides sacked, according to a tweet from a erstwhile elder manager astatine the company. But that was aboriginal denied.

Almost each of Twitter's gross presently comes from advertising, and Volkswagen is among the brands that has stopped spending with it since Mr Musk bought Twitter.

"We are intimately monitoring the concern and volition determine astir adjacent steps depending connected its evolvement," Europe's biggest carmaker said.

On Thursday, nutrient shaper General Mills, which owns brands including Cheerios and Lucky Charms, did the same.

It said it was continuing to show Twitter's "new direction" and wanted to "evaluate [its] selling spend".

Other brands to person paused paid enactment connected the level see car firms General Motors and Audi, and drugs elephantine Pfizer.

Mr Musk has been looking for ways to chopped costs and marque wealth successful antithetic ways from the platform, including plans to complaint a monthly subscription interest for users to beryllium verified connected the platform.

He besides projected that those paying the $8 per period interest would get their Tweets boosted successful replies, mentions, and searches, prompting disapproval from immoderate radical connected Twitter that helium was creating a two-tier strategy that would payment those consenting to pay.

Twitter employees filed a people enactment suit connected Thursday which argued the institution was making large occupation cuts without giving 60 days' notice, successful usurpation of national and Californian law.