Mere hours after Elon Musk kicked off a brand new period at Twitter, the billionaire proprietor was deluged with pleas and calls for from banned account holders and world leaders.

The flood of requests underscore the problem the CEO of electrical automotive maker Tesla faces, balancing a promise to revive free speech whereas stopping the platform from descending right into a “hellscape,” as he had vowed in an open letter to advertisers on Thursday.

Former US President Donald Trump, who was completely banned from Twitter over accusations of inciting violence after the January 6, 2021 capitol riots, welcomed the takeover, however mentioned little about his return to Twitter. “I am very happy that Twitter is now in sane hands, and will no longer be run by Radical Left Lunatics and Maniacs who truly hate our country.”

Dmitry Medvedev, former Russia president and present deputy chairman of Russia’s Security Council tweeted his congratulations.

Others requested Musk to reverse penalties inflicted by the social media platform. In response to an nameless account with 8,52,000 followers, identified for being a giant supporter of Trump’s election fraud claims, and who mentioned it was “shadowbanned,” Musk tweeted, “I will be digging in more today.”

The strain is mounting on Musk and Twitter as he’s set to deal with the Twitter workers on Friday after closing the deal. 

Musk has not provided particulars on how he’ll obtain all this and who will run the corporate. He has mentioned he plans to chop jobs, leaving Twitter’s 7,500 staff fretting about their future. He additionally mentioned on Thursday he didn’t purchase Twitter to make more cash however “to try to help humanity, whom I love.”

Musk tried to calm Twitter worker fears that main layoffs are coming and warranted advertisers that his previous criticism of Twitter’s content material moderation guidelines wouldn’t hurt its enchantment.

Fewer that 10 % of 266 Twitter staff who participated in a ballot on messaging app Blind anticipated to nonetheless have their jobs in three months. Blind permits staff to air grievances anonymously after they enroll with company emails.

Musk fired Twitter Chief Executive Parag Agrawal, Chief Financial Officer Ned Segal and authorized affairs and coverage chief Vijaya Gadde, based on individuals aware of the matter. He had accused them of deceptive him and Twitter buyers over the variety of faux accounts on the platform.

Agrawal and Segal have been in Twitter’s San Francisco headquarters when the deal closed and have been escorted out, the sources added.

Musk, who additionally runs rocket firm SpaceX, plans to grow to be Twitter’s interim CEO, based on an individual aware of the matter and following an earlier report by Reuters. Musk additionally plans to scrap everlasting bans on customers, Bloomberg mentioned, citing an individual aware of the matter.

Twitter, Musk and the executives didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.

Chief Twit

Before closing the deal, Musk walked into Twitter’s headquarters on Wednesday with a giant grin and a porcelain sink, subsequently tweeting “let that sink in.” He modified his Twitter profile description to “Chief Twit.”

European regulators additionally reiterated previous warnings that, underneath Musk’s management, Twitter should nonetheless abide by the area’s Digital Services Act, which levies hefty fines on firms if they don’t management unlawful content material.

“In Europe, the bird will fly by our EU rules,” EU trade chief Thierry Breton tweeted on Friday morning.

European Parliament lawmaker and civil rights proponent Patrick Breyer advised individuals search for options the place privateness is a precedence.

“Twitter already knows our personalities dangerously well due to its pervasive surveillance of our every click. Now this knowledge will be falling into Musk’s hands.”

Musk has indicated he sees Twitter as a basis for making a “super app” that provides every part from cash transfers to procuring and ride-hailing.

But Twitter is struggling to interact its most energetic customers who’re very important to the enterprise. These “heavy tweeters” account for lower than 10 % of month-to-month total customers however generate 90 % of all tweets and half of worldwide income.

Musk will face a problem constructing income “given that the controversial opinions he appears to want to give more of a free rein to are often unpalatable to advertisers,” mentioned Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Susannah Streeter.

As information of the deal unfold, some Twitter customers have been fast to flag their willingness to stroll away.

© Thomson Reuters 2022