Twitter Layoffs Spur Concerns About US Midterms, Human Rights
Elon Musk's broad-based cuts at Twitter Inc. are leading current and former employees to question whether the social network will have the resources to keep crucial systems like content moderation running effectively, including during the US midterm elections on Tuesday.
Musk on Thursday and Friday slashed over half the staff, affecting almost every team at the company. Product and engineering teams were gutted by well over 50%, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, and other groups — like communications, marketing, human rights and diversity — were almost completely eliminated. Those who were suddenly restricted from email and Slack were left frantically messaging in outside Signal and chat groups to understand who was still employed, said the people, who requested anonymity discussing non-public information. “It's like a fire,” said one former worker. “People are looking for survivors.” This person asked not to be identified for fear of retribution.
The dramatic scaling down of the company's staff immediately drew scrutiny from Twitter insiders, outside groups and disinformation watchers, who say it's unclear how Twitter will manage its sprawling network, which has an outsized impact on global political and cultural conversation, with far fewer people at the helm.
Twitter has historically been a major tool for following news during elections, as the first place information gets reported before it ends up on television or other social networks. Now, the site “has been massively disrupted,” becoming vulnerable to problems during high-traffic moments, or coordinated disinformation campaigns, said Dr. Kate Starbird, an associate professor at the University of Washington and co-founder of the Center for
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