Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey took to the platform, recently acquired by billionaire Elon Musk, to apologize for the state of the site, which has laid off thousands of workers.
On Saturday, Dorsey posted a series of tweets in response to Twitter’s layoffs that began Friday. Half of the company’s 7,500 employees could be laid off since Musk acquired the company for $44 billion last week.
“The people of Twitter, past and present, are strong and resilient,” Dorsey wrote. “They will always find a way, no matter how difficult the moment. I realize that many are angry with me.
“I’m responsible for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the size of the company too fast. I am sorry about that.”
Dorsey added: “I am grateful and love everyone who has ever worked at Twitter. I don’t expect it to be mutual at this point… or ever… and I understand,” along with a heart emoji.
The response to Dorsey’s comments has been mixed. Many users blamed Dorsey for problems on Twitter after it was bought by Musk.
“Ouch. Too little. Too late,” wrote one user.
Another user wrote: “Dude you’re nasty.”
A number of divisions at Twitter have undergone deep cuts or been eliminated entirely, including the company’s human rights and algorithm ethics teams.
At least one class-action lawsuit has been filed against Twitter on behalf of former employees who claim they were not properly notified of their termination.
“Elon Musk has a history of violating California labor laws as Tesla has been hit with a shocking number of sexual and racial harassment lawsuits,” said prominent attorney Lisa Blum, who confirmed to the Guardian that she had been in contact with several Twitter employees. .
“His workers are human beings who are all entitled to be treated with respect.” This time, a heavy class action will finally teach him that even the richest man in the world is not above the law.
UK-based Twitter staff facing job losses have been given three days to nominate a representative for a formal consultation on their jobs.
Musk defended the layoffs, tweeting that the laid-off employees were getting three months of severance pay as the company was reportedly losing more than $4 million a day.
But several companies have announced they will no longer advertise on Twitter amid concerns that misinformation and hate speech will spread on the app as protections against each have been scaled back.
Audi, General Motors, General Mills and other advertisers have stopped advertising on the site.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and other groups also urged advertisers to freeze spending on the site in the face of concerns about hate speech.
Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk issued a statement calling on Musk to “ensure that human rights are central to the governance of Twitter.”
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