(SAN FRANCISCO) After mass layoffs, Twitter is preparing to launch a controversial new membership on Saturday, but new owner and boss Elon Musk, pressed by the UN to uphold human rights, made an urgent demand. Social network.
Updated yesterday at 10:15 pm.
The Tesla boss only took control of Twitter a week ago, but reactions have been pouring in on his drastic decisions, all kinds of promises and provocations.
His absolutist view of freedom of expression is troubling, and on Saturday, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk intervened and urged the influential network to ensure these rights are respected.
Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey spoke to him to praise the “resilience” of employees at the platform, which saw half of the San Francisco group’s approximately 7,500 employees laid off on Friday.
“I realize that many of you are angry with me. I take my responsibilities to all those in this situation: I grew the company too fast. I apologize to you for this,” said the man who handed over control of the company a year ago.
The rest of the employees are seeing a change in their company culture.
As of last Friday, Elon Musk launched a redesign of his first flagship project, the Twitter Blue subscription, to enable some teams to work tirelessly, balancing their jobs, with a potential activation target by Monday.
“Power to the People”
Already from Saturday, Twitter’s mobile application will offer an update that will soon allow users to subscribe to the new formula for a verified account and practical benefits.
“Get Twitter Blue for $7.99 a month if you sign up now,” says the app, only on iPhones for now.
“New Blue isn’t live yet – the sprint to launch continues, but some people may see updates as we test changes in real time,” tweeted Esther Crawford, director of developing products at the California-based company.
“The Twitter team is legendary. New Blue Coming Soon! “, she added. On Wednesday, she reposted a photo of herself sleeping on the office floor in a sleeping bag.
Currently, this $5 subscription comes with additional features like a more comfortable reading mode.
Elon Musk wants to add account verification, so far free, but reserved for certain accounts (governments, individuals, etc.). This served as a guarantee of authenticity.
“The current system of lords and peasants, with those in blue and those without, is bullshit. Power to the people! Blue for $8 a month,” a Tesla and SpaceX boss said Tuesday.
“Blue Badge: Power to the People. Your account will get a Blue Tick just like the celebrities, businesses and politicians you already follow,” the app now promises.
Subscribers’ tweets are displayed in priority and they can post longer videos and audio messages.
“As you support Twitter in the fight against automated accounts, we’ll reward you with half the ads that are twice as relevant,” the app further specifies.
The California company has had to diversify its revenues, which account for 90% from advertising, and many advertisers have stopped spending on the platform since the takeover.
“responsibility”
Many communities and authorities are concerned that if Elon Musk radically loosens content control, the platform will become more saturated with misinformation and hate speech than it is now.
“Twitter has a responsibility to prevent the proliferation of content that violates people’s rights,” Turk said in his open letter.
In this sense, the High Commissioner lamented that the news of the removal of the entire Twitter team dedicated to human rights “is not, from my point of view, an encouraging start.”
All week, Elon Musk has promised that content regulation is a priority, that the rules haven’t changed, and that he’s going to create a council dedicated to the task.
But he’s also angry at NGOs that “try to destroy free speech in America.”
He claimed Friday that the social network was losing more than $4 million a day to justify the layoffs.
He promised on Saturday that Twitter would evolve with more flexible sharing and search tools and ways to monetize content for creators.
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