Yoel Roth, Twitter’s head of trust and safety, left on one of the company’s most difficult days since Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of the social media giant two weeks ago, according to two people familiar with the matter. Later, Roth changed his Twitter bio to read “Former Head of Trust & Safety,” which seemed to confirm his resignation.
After firing more than half of Twitter’s 7,500 employees last week, Roth had become one of Musk’s most dependable executives. Roth had also been crucial in efforts to reassure hesitant advertisers that harmful content was not consuming the site.
Worry of negative cash flow
Lea Kissner, Twitter’s top information security officer, and Damien Kieran, its chief privacy officer, both made their departures official on Thursday. Twitter’s chief compliance officer also resigned, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. Although Robin Wheeler, who had been in charge of Twitter’s ad sales division, was reportedly also fired, she then tweeted: “I’m still here.”
According to a person familiar with the situation, in a separate discussion on Thursday with select technical workers, Musk cautioned that the company may experience net negative cash flow of several billion dollars and added that bankruptcy was not out of the question. The Information was the first to report on the comments.
Blue tick or no blue tick? That is, apparently, the question
As high-profile employees leave and the criteria for verified accounts keep changing, there is more unrest surrounding Elon Musk and Twitter. After being removed for less than two days, the grey “Official” badges were reinstated. And it’s now being said that Twitter has stopped allowing customers to subscribe to its Twitter Blue service, with those paying for blue ticks having them removed.
The Washington Post reports that a memo has been written to Twitter personnel informing them that the new subscription service, in which users pay for a blue check mark, is being temporarily delayed while issues with impersonation are resolved.
The Federal Trade Commission stated that it was closely monitoring the situation and was “deeply concerned.“
Twitter could be done for
About 3,700 employees were let go by Musk in his first few weeks as CEO, but he hadn’t spoken to the vast majority of the remaining Twitter employees.
“The road ahead is arduous and will require intense work to succeed. Without significant subscription revenue, there is a good chance Twitter will not survive the upcoming economic downturn.”
Elon Musk in his first email to Twitter employees
Users could purchase a blue tick for £6.99 ($7.99) per month through the Twitter Blue membership programme. For some high-profile accounts, a distinct grey “official” symbol would be present. Musk quickly abandoned the new grey tick on Wednesday, adding to the confusion.
On some Twitter profiles, though, brand-new grey official badges for significant organisations started to reappear on Friday. Fake accounts mimicking politicians and celebrities, like NBA star LeBron James and former UK prime minister Tony Blair, have also recently emerged.
Concern over the future of the big players
For example, I have seen fraudulent accounts with the verified blue tick badge obtained through Twitter Blue impersonating support accounts for legitimate airlines and requesting that users send direct messages to the bogus accounts rather than the actual ones.
How long before a prankster steals credit card information and uses it to make purchases? Every airline, and many other businesses, will abandon Twitter as a means of generating customer engagement.
