The Ballad of Twitter and that Billionaire Bumpkin, Elon Musk

This is an opinion board. Just because you disagree with it doesn't immediately invalidate something.

Employees sue Twitter after staff are informed that layoffs are set to begin

Elon Musk will begin laying off Twitter employees on Friday morning, according to a memo sent to staff, as several Twitter employees file a class action lawsuit alleging the layoffs are in violation of labor law.

The email sent Thursday evening notified employees that they will receive a notice by 12 p.m. ET Friday that informs them of their employment status.

“If your employment is not impacted, you will receive a notification via your Twitter email,” a copy of the email obtained by CNN said. “If your employment is impacted, you will receive a notification with next steps via your personal email.”

The email added that “to help ensure the safety” of employees and Twitter’s systems, the company’s offices “will be temporarily closed and all badge access will be suspended.”

The email concluded acknowledging that it will be “an incredibly challenging experience to go through” for the workforce.

The memo comes after news reports that Musk had planned to lay off up to half of the company’s staff after acquiring it last week for $44 billion.

On Thursday night and into Friday morning, some Twitter employees began posting on the platform that they had already been locked out of their company email accounts ahead of the planned layoff notification. Some also shared blue hearts and salute emojis indicating they were out at the company, as well as #LoveWhereYouWorked, a past-tense play on a hashtag previously often used by Twitter employees.

The class action lawsuit filed Thursday alleges Twitter is in violation of the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act (WARN Act) after laying off some employees already.

The WARN Act requires that an employer with more than 100 employees must provide 60 days’ advanced written notice prior to a mass layoff “affecting 50 or more employees at a single site of employment.”

PENALTIES FOR VIOLATING WARN
An employer who violates WARN is liable to each affected employee for an
amount equal to back pay and benefits for the period of violation, up to 60
days. This liability may be reduced by any wages the employer pays over the
notice period. WARN liability may also be reduced by any voluntary and
unconditional payment not required by a legal obligation.
An employer who fails to provide notice as required to a unit of local government is subject to a civil penalty not to exceed $500 for each day of violation.
The penalty may be avoided if the employer satisfies its liability to each
affected employee within three weeks after the closing. In any suit, the court,
in its discretion, may allow the prevailing party a reasonable attorney's fee as
part of the costs.

Tribel is trying to move in. I have visited a few times. Not real impressed.

My argument is based on a reasonable interpretation of Musk's observed actions. You don't have to agree, but if you draw another conclusion from those actions, feel free to voice it.

which part of "an employer must provide 60 days’ advanced written notice prior to a mass layoff" don't you get?

Researchers from Montclair State University found that the 12 hours immediately following Musk's ascension to ownership saw a much more "hostile" environment on Twitter. The team looked at tweets filled with "vulgar and hostile" rhetoric aimed at people based on their race, religion, ethnicity and orientation, such as the "n-word," "k-word," and "f-word," to find out just how bad it got. And what they found was an "immediate, visible, and measurable spike."

In the week leading up to Musk's acquisition, researchers said there were no more than 84 hostile tweets an hour on the platform. But from midnight on October 28 – the day Musk took ownership – to noon the next day, there were 4,778 hate-filled tweets. That accounts for more than 398 tweets an hour, about 4.7 times higher than the seven-day average leading up to that day. The potential reach for those tweets was more than 3 million, researchers found. Researchers also said there was an increase in negative sentiment, with more than 67% of the tweets sent after Musk's takeover having a negative tone.

"In sum, the content and tone of Twitter posts became measurably more oriented towards hate speech on the day Elon Musk became CEO of the company with significant reach attained for this hate content," the study says.

Red wall Tory MPs are being targeted by Labour attack ads over their failure to oppose a ban on fracking, as part of an overhaul of the party’s social media effort.

A new in-house digital team, filled with former Google and tech start-up employees, has been building new applications for the party to create, target and publish swift social media ads at swing voters. They have so far concentrated on fracking, the rising costs of mortgages, the Tory record on the economy and Labour’s opposition to some of the direct action taken by Just Stop Oil protesters.

Insiders said the party was shunning Twitter in favour of Facebook and Instagram, used more often by key groups of voters.

They are also trying to deploy messages through the real experiences of voters, rather than using politicians. The party is preparing a new digital and data academy to educate staff in data science, while a digital training scheme is planned for the new year, as the party switches to election mode.

Hate speech dramatically increases after Twitter goes private.

Quote:

Researchers from Montclair State University found that the 12 hours immediately following Musk's ascension to ownership saw a much more "hostile" environment on Twitter. The team looked at tweets filled with "vulgar and hostile" rhetoric aimed at people based on their race, religion, ethnicity and orientation, such as the "n-word," "k-word," and "f-word," to find out just how bad it got. And what they found was an "immediate, visible, and measurable spike."

In the week leading up to Musk's acquisition, researchers said there were no more than 84 hostile tweets an hour on the platform. But from midnight on October 28 – the day Musk took ownership – to noon the next day, there were 4,778 hate-filled tweets. That accounts for more than 398 tweets an hour, about 4.7 times higher than the seven-day average leading up to that day. The potential reach for those tweets was more than 3 million, researchers found. Researchers also said there was an increase in negative sentiment, with more than 67% of the tweets sent after Musk's takeover having a negative tone.

"In sum, the content and tone of Twitter posts became measurably more oriented towards hate speech on the day Elon Musk became CEO of the company with significant reach attained for this hate content," the study says.