Dave Smith/Business Insider
- Elon Musk completed his $44 billion purchase of Twitter on Thursday.
- Hateful imagery and slurs soon popped up on the site in celebration of the acquisition.
- Twitter staffers feared mass layoffs after Musk fired several top execs.
The Elon Musk era of Twitter isn't off to a strong start.
Musk finally completed his $44 billion purchase of the social-media platform on Thursday. It didn't take long for Musk to sack top executives. It also didn't take long for speculation to begin about possible layoffs at the company — and for far-right trolls to celebrate with racist tweets.
The world's richest man and Tesla CEO tweeted "let the good times roll" on Friday, his first full day as Twitter owner. It's unclear when said good times would begin rolling.
The Washington Post reported that hateful images and racial slurs quickly emerged after the Musk-Twitter deal closed.
One tweet the Post observed said "I hear that there have been some changes around here" with a video depicting Nazi imagery. Insider was able to find the tweet and confirm it was still live on Twitter late Friday afternoon.
And the Network Contagion Research Institute observed that use of the N-word on Twitter had surged 500% compared to the previous average after Musk bought the company.
It seems Musk invited tweets like this by defining himself as a "free-speech" proponent, who frequently criticized content moderation.
Ring-wing personalities like Dinesh D'Souza were even duped by a fake statement from Donald Trump that his Twitter account had been reinstated, prompting brief jubilation. Other right-wing politicians and pundits have called on Musk to lift other bans.
Musk is now caught between a volatile conservative base hailing him as a savior, and the needs of an actual business where content moderation is key to attracting advertisers. And he put himself there.
Sure, there's always the chance that Musk could leave Twitter the same; the one announcement he made on Friday was that Twitter would form a content-moderation council. But it also seems like a bland half measure with a vague goal right now.
Things aren't much better inside the halls of Twitter.
Musk immediately fired several top executives at the company, including CEO Parag Agrawal (although they'll get a substantial payday for being canned).
The oustings, and Musk's overall takeover, prompted some Twitter employees to fear for their jobs. One engineer tweeted on Thursday, "I am fully expecting him to fire 69% of us on Friday at 4:20pm."
By Friday, speculation was swirling inside Twitter about broad layoffs. Staff still hadn't been given any direction on Musk's acquisition by early afternoon.
Confusion was further heightened by photos and reports online of engineers leaving Twitter offices with boxes. It prompted debates among staff about whether it was a hoax or not, Insider's Kali Hays reported.
The Verge later reported on Friday that it was likely a hoax; one person claiming to be a laid-off Twitter staffer said his name was "Rahul Ligma," which The Verge confirmed is not a name employed with Twitter (and "Ligma" is an internet meme).
Needless to say, the first day of Twitter's Musk rule was chaotic. Musk didn't rein in far-right response, nor were fears of mass layoffs tempered within the company.
Musk has said he views Twitter as a "digital town square" but insisted to advertisers in a letter this week that it wouldn't become a "free-for-all hellscape." But his first day did little to ease concerns, both outside and in.
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