Timeline: 2 months of Twitter mayhem since Elon Musk takeover-12 talking points
Since buying Twitter, Elon Musk has made radical changes that have sparked fears for the future of the platform, from firing half the staff to restoring ex-president Donald Trump's account and suspending those of several journalists.
AFP looks back at a rollercoaster two months at the Silicon Valley giant.
- Enter Elon -
Musk, the world's second-richest richest man and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, buys Twitter in late October for $44 billion after months of on-off negotiations.
"Let the good times roll," he tweets after the deal is sealed on October 28. He becomes the sole director of the company after dissolving its corporate board.
- 'Content moderation council' -
In one of his first moves, the self-declared free speech absolutist announces he will form a "content moderation council", in a nod to concerns that Twitter could become a free-for-all platform for disinformation and hate speech.
- Monthly charge -
On November 1, Musk announces the site will charge $8 per month to verify the accounts of celebrities and companies -- a service that used to be free. But the November 6 launch of the Twitter Blue subscription plan goes awry. Musk is forced to suspend the move after an embarrassing rash of fake accounts alarm advertisers.
- Brands step back -
Top global companies, including General Mills and Volkswagen, suspend their advertising on Twitter on November 3 as they monitor the new direction the company will take.
- Massive layoffs -
On November 4, half of Twitter's 7,500-strong staff are made redundant, sending shockwaves through Silicon Valley.
Musk tweets that "unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day".
- Regulator's 'concern'-
The chaos draws a rare warning on November 10
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