Yahoo Finance Elon Musk has bodyguards at Twitter HQ who even accompany him to bathroom, claim staff
Twitter staff, both current and some who have left the company, have spoken out about a disorganised workplace, adding that owner Elon Musk has bodyguards who even come with him to the restroom, staff claim.
An engineer told the BBC that things may appear fine on the outside, but “for someone on the inside, it’s like a building where all the pieces are on fire”.
“When you look at it from the outside the façade looks fine, but I can see that nothing is working. All the plumbing is broken, all the faucets, everything,” he added.
The engineer, who chose to remain anonymous, told the outlet that “nobody’s taking care” of the work that previously was done to limit harassment on the social media platform.
Hate has spiked, trolls are freer and more active, and harassment is on the rise as misogynistic and abusive profiles see a rise in their numbers of followers by 69 per cent, the report says.
Rape survivors are reportedly now being targeted following Mr Musk taking the helm.
The head of content design, which created safety measures, told the BBC that she resigned after her entire team was let go.
The BBC also reports that there are concerns that child sexual exploitation is increasing on Twitter, in addition to targeted campaigns harassing certain individuals, as well as foreign influence attempts now go “undetected” a recent staffer told the outlet.
“A totally new person, without the expertise, is doing what used to be done by more than 20 people,” the engineer told the BBC. “That leaves room for much more risk, many more possibilities of things that can go wrong.”
“There are so many things broken and there’s nobody taking care of it, that you see this inconsistent behaviour,” he added, telling the outlet that he believes Twitter has grown chaotic because Mr Musk doesn’t trust Twitter staff.
“Wherever he goes in the office, there are at least two bodyguards – very bulky, tall, Hollywood movie bodyguards,” he said, adding that the guards even follow him to the restroom.
He said all the cleaning and catering workers have been fired and that Mr Musk attempted to sell office plants to staff.
Rape survivor Ellie Wilson faced hateful messages after she tweeted about her assailant following his sentencing in January.
She said that what she finds “most difficult” is “the people that say that I wasn’t raped or that this didn’t happen and that I’m lying. It’s sort of like a secondary trauma”.
Ray Serrato worked on a Twitter team fighting disinformation by actors sponsored by states. He said his team was “decimated”.
“Twitter might have been the refuge where journalists would go out and have their voice be heard and be critical of the government. But I’m not sure that’s going to be the case anymore,” he said.
“There are a number of key experts that are no longer in that team that would have covered special regions, or threat actors, from Russia to China,” he told the BBC.
Mr Musk tweeted about the report, writing: “Sorry for turning Twitter from nurturing paradise into place that has … trolls.”
Sorry for turning Twitter from nurturing paradise into place that has … trolls 🧌 pic.twitter.com/HaWl1jPfOm
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 6, 2023
The Independent has reached out to Twitter for comment.
