Billionaire and Tesla CEO Elon Musk bought Twitter for 44 billion dollars. The transaction began on April 14, 2022 and concluded on Oct. 24, 2022. The purchase came with many changes to the social media platform and the company. 

Musk has big plans for the future of the platform. During the purchasing process, Musk claimed that his goal was to improve “free speech” on the platform. He hopes to permanently alter political discourse on social media. 

A shift on Twitter is what content can be shared on the site. Content regulations are loosening, causing hate speech to run rampant. Within 12 hours of the company transfer the number of tweets containing racial, homophobic and anti-semitic slurs increased by over 400%, 

Musk also plans to remove the “perma-ban”, which is when a person is permanently barred from Twitter. This change has the possibility to bring many controversial figures and dangerous conspiracy theorists back into the public spotlight. 

My commitment to free speech extends even to not banning the account following my plane, even though that is a direct personal safety risk

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 7, 2022

In addition to changing the platform’s guidelines, Musk also made significant changes to Twitter’s staff. By Nov. 4, 3,700 employees were fired globally, around half of the company. 

According to Musk, the social media site was losing $4 million per day, and the cuts were estimated to save the company $400 million in revenue. 

Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day.

Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 4, 2022

While employees knew that cuts were approaching due to the shift in ownership and consistent loss of revenue, the scale and manner in which they were performed, shocked many.

Employees were suddenly kicked out of their company email or other accounts. Many international employees lost their jobs in the middle of the night, and one was even dropped mid Zoom call during a business meeting.  

The sudden nature of the layoff angered many, and some attempted to sue Musk for not giving proper notice. However, former employees will continue to be paid for two months after being let go, making the success of their case against Musk unlikely. 

Musk’s behavior enraged many people, and activists called for a boycott of twitter. This, as well as the changes to the platform’s guidelines, caused companies to pull their advertisements from the platform, causing an even greater loss of revenue. 

General Mills, Volkswagen and Pfizer are among many who are wary of the platform’s changes and have stopped selling their advertisements for the time being.

Many celebrities have also inactivated their accounts due to the recent guideline changes including model Gigi Hadid, screenwriter and producer Shonda Rhimes, R&B artist Toni Braxton and many more.