LAST UPDATE | 13 Nov 2022
TWITTER BOSS ELON Musk has refuted reports that staff in the company’s Dublin office are no longer allowed to work from home.
It was reported this week that staff at Twitter Dublin were told that remote working was no longer possible, and they are now required to be in the office at least 40 hours a week.
Responding to a tweet which included a screenshot of an email about the new policy, Musk said: “This is false.”
This is false. Anyone who can be in office, should be. However, if not logistically possible or they have essential personal matters, then staying home is fine.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 12, 2022
Working remotely is also ok if their manager vouches for excellence.
Same policy as Tesla & SpaceX.
“Anyone who can be in office, should be. However, if not logistically possible or they have essential personal matters, then staying home is fine,” he said.
“Working remotely is also ok if their manager vouches for excellence.”
Musk said this policy was also in place in his other businesses, Tesla and SpaceX.
He also replied “yes” to a Twitter using asking: “If manager vouches for excellence and they don’t deliver excellence does the manager get fired?”
Yes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 12, 2022
Bloomberg reported this week that Musk was planning to slash 3,700 jobs in Twitter, and remaining employees would be asked to return to the office.
His apparent U-turn on remote working is the latest of a string of chaotic developments at the social network since the billionaire took over as CEO two weeks ago.
Fake accounts
Twitter has scrambled to tackle a surge in fake accounts that have proliferated since Musk’s takeover, suspending sign-ups for a new paid checkmark system and reinstating a grey “official” badge on some accounts.
The @TwitterSupport account tweeted early Friday that a grey checkmark indicating an “official” account was coming back, only days after it was introduced – then almost immediately scrapped.
The rollout of the label appeared inconsistent: it appeared briefly then disappeared from the network’s own account, @Twitter.
By Friday morning, the firm had also disabled sign-ups for Twitter Blue, the feature touted by free-speech proponent Musk as bringing “power to the people” by offering ordinary users a verified blue tick – until then reserved for prominent accounts – for $8 per month.
An internal memo for Twitter staff, obtained by US media including The Washington Post, confirmed the feature had been temporarily disabled to “help address impersonation issues.”
In introducing the paid blue-check verification system, Musk had warned that Twitter would suspend fake accounts not clearly marked as parody.
Going forward, accounts engaged in parody must include “parody” in their name, not just in bio
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 11, 2022
US drugmaker Eli Lilly was forced to issue an apology Thursday after a fake account – stamped with a purchased blue tick – tweeted that insulin was to be made available for free.
The fake account was removed, and the company put out a statement of apology.
The turmoil at Twitter has raised concerns about the potential for serious damage, should nefarious actors successfully pose as official representatives of powerful companies or government entities.
Additional reporting from AFP
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