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Nov. 18, 2022: Dems want answers from Musk’s Twitter

Nov. 18, 2022: Dems want answers from Musk’s Twitter

FromPOLITICO Playbook Daily Briefing


Nov. 18, 2022: Dems want answers from Musk’s Twitter

FromPOLITICO Playbook Daily Briefing

ratings:
Length:
9 minutes
Released:
Nov 18, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode

Description

On Thursday, as the 5 p.m. deadline approached for employees to decide
whether they were “hardcore” enough to stick it out at Elon Musk's
Twitter, reports started to trickle out that Musk’s ultimatum had
backfired spectacularly.

The second big development was that six Democratic senators wrote to the
Federal Trade Commission asking it to investigate whether Musk broke the
law. 

“We write regarding Twitter’s serious, willful disregard for the safety
and security of its users, and encourage the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) to investigate any breach of Twitter’s consent decree or other
violations of our consumer protection laws,” the senators wrote.

Tech reporter Rebecca Kern stops by the recap the latest in Twitter
world and whether the platform is headed to the blue checkmark in the
sky. 

Fortune Magazine’s Kylie Robison said up to 75% of Musk’s employees had
decided to abandon the company.

The Verge reported that “given the scale of the resignations this week,
they expect the platform to start breaking soon,” adding: “[T]he team
that maintains Twitter’s core system libraries that every engineer at
the company uses is gone after Thursday. ‘You cannot run Twitter without
this team,’ the employee said.” 

Twitter’s offices were closed until Monday, and reports suggested Musk
was paranoid that departing employees might try to sabotage the company.

Insider’s Kali Hays reported “that the entirety of Twitter’s payroll
department has resigned/not elected to sign up for Elon’s Twitter 2.0.”

The Times reported that Musk frantically tried to retain top talent in
hastily arranged Zooms. “As the 5 p.m. deadline passed, some who had
called in began hanging up, seemingly having decided to leave, even as
Mr. Musk continued speaking,” according to NYT’s Ryan Mac, Mike Isaac
and David McCabe.

The second big development in Twitter world was that six Democratic
senators wrote to the Federal Trade Commission asking it to investigate
whether Musk broke the law. 

“We write regarding Twitter’s serious, willful disregard for the safety
and security of its users, and encourage the Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) to investigate any breach of Twitter’s consent decree or other
violations of our consumer protection laws,” the senators wrote.

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Raghu Manavalan is the Host and Senior Editor of POLITICO's Playbook
Daily Briefing.
Jenny Ament is the Executive Producer of POLITICO Audio.
Released:
Nov 18, 2022
Format:
Podcast episode

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