Elon Musk, the newly appointed CEO of Twitter Inc., stated on Sunday that the goal of the social media platform was to become the most accurate information source about the world, which sparked discussion about how it would accomplish this goal and who gets to decide what is accurate.
A flurry of drastic actions taken by Musk since he acquired Twitter in a $44 billion deal just about a week ago, including firing half the staff and charging users, have given some early hints as to how the platform will be changed by the richest person in the world.
Since the deal's announcement, some advertisers have reduced their spending. Musk accuses activist groups of exerting pressure on the industry because of worries about the deal's content moderation.
"Twitter needs to become by far the most accurate source of information about the world. That’s our mission," Musk said on Sunday.
His tweet immediately sparked tens of thousands of responses and sparked lively discussions about how the mission would be carried out.
"Accurate to who?," Twitter founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey asked.
Last month, Musk, who also owns the rocket company SpaceX and the electric vehicle company Tesla, announced that Twitter would be creating a content moderation council with "widely diverse viewpoints."
Before that council meets, no significant content decisions or account reinstatements will be made, according to the self-described free speech absolutist at the time.
Musk added on Sunday that accounts that use impersonation on Twitter without explicitly designating it as "parody" will be immediately and permanently suspended.
According to him, Twitter used to issue warnings before suspending accounts, but now that widespread verification is being implemented, there will be "no exceptions" and no warnings.
"This will be clearly identified as a condition for signing up to Twitter Blue," Musk said, adding any name change at all will cause temporary loss of verified checkmark.
In an effort to boost revenue, Twitter updated its app in the Apple App Store on Saturday and will now start charging $8 for coveted blue check verification marks.
According to Twitter, advantages of the verification service include "half the ads," the capacity to post longer videos to Twitter, and priority ranking for high-quality content.
However, the New York Times had earlier on Sunday reported that Twitter would wait until after Tuesday's midterm elections to begin rolling out verification checkmarks to users of its new service.
Twitter is now contacting the dozens of employees who lost their jobs and asking them to come back, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday, in a sign of further confusion following Musk's takeover.
Some of the people who have been asked to return were unintentionally fired. According to the report, which cited people with direct knowledge of the actions, some people were fired before management realized that their labor and experience might be required to develop the new features Musk envisions.
(Source:www.cnbctv18.com)
A flurry of drastic actions taken by Musk since he acquired Twitter in a $44 billion deal just about a week ago, including firing half the staff and charging users, have given some early hints as to how the platform will be changed by the richest person in the world.
Since the deal's announcement, some advertisers have reduced their spending. Musk accuses activist groups of exerting pressure on the industry because of worries about the deal's content moderation.
"Twitter needs to become by far the most accurate source of information about the world. That’s our mission," Musk said on Sunday.
His tweet immediately sparked tens of thousands of responses and sparked lively discussions about how the mission would be carried out.
"Accurate to who?," Twitter founder and former CEO Jack Dorsey asked.
Last month, Musk, who also owns the rocket company SpaceX and the electric vehicle company Tesla, announced that Twitter would be creating a content moderation council with "widely diverse viewpoints."
Before that council meets, no significant content decisions or account reinstatements will be made, according to the self-described free speech absolutist at the time.
Musk added on Sunday that accounts that use impersonation on Twitter without explicitly designating it as "parody" will be immediately and permanently suspended.
According to him, Twitter used to issue warnings before suspending accounts, but now that widespread verification is being implemented, there will be "no exceptions" and no warnings.
"This will be clearly identified as a condition for signing up to Twitter Blue," Musk said, adding any name change at all will cause temporary loss of verified checkmark.
In an effort to boost revenue, Twitter updated its app in the Apple App Store on Saturday and will now start charging $8 for coveted blue check verification marks.
According to Twitter, advantages of the verification service include "half the ads," the capacity to post longer videos to Twitter, and priority ranking for high-quality content.
However, the New York Times had earlier on Sunday reported that Twitter would wait until after Tuesday's midterm elections to begin rolling out verification checkmarks to users of its new service.
Twitter is now contacting the dozens of employees who lost their jobs and asking them to come back, Bloomberg News reported on Sunday, in a sign of further confusion following Musk's takeover.
Some of the people who have been asked to return were unintentionally fired. According to the report, which cited people with direct knowledge of the actions, some people were fired before management realized that their labor and experience might be required to develop the new features Musk envisions.
(Source:www.cnbctv18.com)
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