Octopus Overlords

Blackhawk wrote: Fri Nov 04, 2022 8:32 pm I read yesterday that Musk has gotten around the 60-day requirement in the past by simply notifying the workers they were to be laid off, then stopping the affected workers from doing anything work-related, all while keeping them on the payroll for 60 days. So rather than severance, they get a paid vacation.

A number of high-profile, verified users have had their Twitter accounts suspended over the last few days after seemingly breaking, but also not breaking, some new rules instituted by the site’s new owner, Elon Musk.

Musk, who bought the social media platform despite not knowing what to do with it, how to run it or being able to afford it, began his tenure last month by celebrating the return of free speech, quickly reminding anyone that the people championing “free speech” the loudest are rarely interested in any such thing.

Max Peck wrote: Mon Nov 07, 2022 3:00 pm When freedom of speech meets thin skin, apparently thin skin prevails.

Comedians, Actors & Chiptune Artists Suspended From Twitter Because Elon Musk Has No Idea What He's Doing

A number of high-profile, verified users have had their Twitter accounts suspended over the last few days after seemingly breaking, but also not breaking, some new rules instituted by the site’s new owner, Elon Musk.

Musk, who bought the social media platform despite not knowing what to do with it, how to run it or being able to afford it, began his tenure last month by celebrating the return of free speech, quickly reminding anyone that the people championing “free speech” the loudest are rarely interested in any such thing.

LordMortis wrote: Mon Nov 07, 2022 4:12 pm Musk is what you might call an Absolute ShitShow.

After layoffs targeting half the company, the Elon Musk-led Twitter is reportedly asking dozens of employees to come back.

"Some of those who are being asked to return were laid off by mistake, according to two people familiar with the moves. Others were let go before management realized that their work and experience may be necessary to build the new features Musk envisions, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private information," Bloomberg wrote.

On Friday, barely a week after Musk bought Twitter, the company moved ahead with a plan to lay off about 50 percent of its workforce. About 3,700 people were reportedly laid off. "Many employees learned they lost their job after their access to company-wide systems, like email and Slack, were suddenly suspended. The requests for employees to return demonstrate how rushed and chaotic the process was," Bloomberg wrote.

Reports say that Twitter began asking laid-off workers to come back on Saturday. Business Insider quoted a source as saying that one "worker who Twitter asked to return rejected the offer because they felt 'used, and think they will be fired again soon.'"

LordMortis wrote: Mon Nov 07, 2022 4:12 pm

Musk is what you might call a Free Speech Absolutist ShitShow.

Twitter’s most senior cybersecurity staffer Lea Kissner has departed the social media giant.

Kissner announced the move in a tweet on Thursday, saying they made the “hard decision” to leave Twitter, but did not say for what reason they resigned. Elon Musk completed a $44 billion takeover of Twitter two weeks ago, resulting in layoffs affecting more than half of the company and the departure of senior executives, including CEO Parag Agrawal, general counsel Sean Edgett, and legal policy chief Vijaya Gadde.

News of Kissner’s departure was first reported by Casey Newton. Twitter’s chief compliance officer, Marianne Fogarty, and chief privacy officer, Damien Kieran, reportedly also resigned on Wednesday, Newton said, citing messages shared in Twitter Slack that he’s seeing.

It’s not immediately clear who is responsible for Twitter’s day-to-day security operations following Kissner’s departure. A spokesperson for Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A massive tech platform like Twitter is built upon very many interdependent parts. “The larger catastrophic failures are a little more titillating, but the biggest risk is the smaller things starting to degrade,” says Ben Krueger, a site reliability engineer who has more than two decades of experience in the tech industry. “These are very big, very complicated systems.” Krueger says one 2017 presentation from Twitter staff includes a statistic suggesting that more than half the back-end infrastructure was dedicated to storing data.

While many of Musk’s detractors may hope the platform goes through the equivalent of thermonuclear destruction, the collapse of something like Twitter happens gradually. For those who know, gradual breakdowns are a sign of concern that a larger crash could be imminent. And that’s what’s happening now.

malchior wrote: Thu Nov 10, 2022 2:53 pm So I sort of have an inside line on this...but grain of salt here it's 2nd hand. The reason they likely resigned is their teams were gutted without any respect to the work that was required due to regulatory activity, government oversight, and other concerns. And a lot of the selection was completed without their input. It's insanity if that pans out as true.

gilraen wrote: Thu Nov 10, 2022 2:55 pm

malchior wrote: Thu Nov 10, 2022 2:53 pm So I sort of have an inside line on this...but grain of salt here it's 2nd hand. The reason they likely resigned is their teams were gutted without any respect to the work that was required due to regulatory activity, government oversight, and other concerns. And a lot of the selection was completed without their input. It's insanity if that pans out as true.

I have a more cynical take on this: they don't want to be left holding the bag when the inevitable fines and violations start rolling in (FTC may be toothless but its European counterparts are not).

gilraen wrote: Thu Nov 10, 2022 2:55 pm

malchior wrote: Thu Nov 10, 2022 2:53 pm So I sort of have an inside line on this...but grain of salt here it's 2nd hand. The reason they likely resigned is their teams were gutted without any respect to the work that was required due to regulatory activity, government oversight, and other concerns. And a lot of the selection was completed without their input. It's insanity if that pans out as true.

I have a more cynical take on this: they don't want to be left holding the bag when the inevitable fines and violations start rolling in (FTC may be toothless but its European counterparts are not).

stessier wrote: Thu Nov 10, 2022 2:59 pm FTC is far from toothless - they hit Facebook with a $5 billion fine.

gilraen wrote: Thu Nov 10, 2022 3:09 pm

stessier wrote: Thu Nov 10, 2022 2:59 pm FTC is far from toothless - they hit Facebook with a $5 billion fine.

Good to know, maybe I was thinking of FCC

Elon Musk detailed his vision for Twitter’s plan to enter the payments market during a livestreamed meeting with Twitter advertisers, hosted on Twitter Spaces on Wednesday. The new Twitter owner suggested that, in the future, users would be able to send money to others on the platform, extract their funds to authenticated bank accounts and, later, perhaps, be offered a high-yield money market account to encourage them to move their cash to Twitter.

The new remarks followed a report this morning by The New York Times which confirmed Twitter last week had filed registration paperwork that would allow it to process payments. The report cited Twitter’s filing with the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), noting that a business would need to register before it could conduct money transfers, exchange currency or cash checks.

In today’s meeting, Musk explained how paid verification, which Twitter is rolling out now with its revamped Twitter Blue subscription, as well as support for a creator ecosystem, could pave the way for a payments system on its platform.

He stressed that, initially, Twitter would need to make fundamental technology architecture changes in order to better support video. The company was recently reported to be working on a “Paywalled Video” feature that would allow creators to charge for access to their content. This suggests Twitter could be moving into a space where it may try to compete more directly with various social media video providers, like TikTok, Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts and others. The Washington Post saw mockups of this concept where a tweet with a video could be unlocked for as little as $1.00. It said creators may be able to choose from preset prices, like $1, $2, $5 or $10 when paywalled videos were launched.

Max Peck wrote: Thu Nov 10, 2022 3:59 pm

Gloriosa victoria, mural by Diego Rivera which satirizes the role of the US, UFC, Catholic Church and the military in the Guatemalan coup. The individuals giving the handshake are John Foster Dulles and general Castillo Armas.

Elon Musk said in his first meeting with Twitter staff since buying the company that "bankruptcy isn't out of the question," sources who attended the event told Insider.

Bankruptcy is typically seen as a last ditch effort by companies, but it could be beneficial to Twitter since Musk loaded it with debt to fund his $44 billion leveraged buyout. Twitter now has more than $10 billion in debt. The interest payments on that may be so high that the company may struggle to meet those obligations, especially if advertisers are pulling back during a weak economy. Even before the deal, Twitter struggled to make a profit.

The CEO hasn't shied away from the idea of bankruptcy in the past. In June, Musk said he was worried about keeping Tesla out of bankruptcy amid supply-chain issues.