THE SQUIZ
A lot is going on at Twitter HQ these days… Three weeks on from Tesla/Space X billionaire Elon Musk’s acquisition of the social media giant, he reinstated former US president Donald Trump’s account yesterday. It capped off another chaotic week that saw 1,200 workers quit – including many vital engineers – following an ultimatum that they commit to “hardcore” work. That’s raised concerns about the platform’s stability, with claims that Twitter has a 50% chance of crashing during the World Cup in Qatar, which kicks off today.

LET’S START WITH THE INTERNAL ISSUES…
Just days after completing the $66 billion takeover, Musk fired half of the company’s 7,500 workforce early this month. With thousands more quitting or taking redundancies, it’s estimated that fewer than 1,000 staff remain. As a result, hashtags like #RIPTwitter are trending, and experts say it will be hard for so few workers to keep the site up and running. Since taking control of the platform, Musk has made sweeping decisions – like charging for Twitter’s blue tick – without consulting in-house experts. And while he’s known for practical jokes, some analysts believe his tough management style pose the most significant risk to the company, and have pointed to issues with Tesla’s workforce where there have been several lawsuits over demands that staff work up to 100 hours a week. Despite the problems, Musk says Twitter’s usage is at an “all-time high”.

AND WHAT’S THE GO WITH LETTING TRUMP BACK ON?
On Saturday, Musk asked Twitter users to vote on whether Trump should have his account reinstated after he was kicked off the platform “due to the risk of further incitement of violence” following his supporters’ 6 January riots on the Capitol last year. The results were close – 51.8% of the 15 million respondents said Trump should be allowed back. There’s no guarantee that Trump will return – he says he’s sticking with his own social media platform Truth Social. It followed Friday’s reinstatement of several suspended accounts – including comedian Kathy Griffin and right-wing commentator Jordan Peterson. That’s prompted many to ask about Musk’s approach to ‘problematic’ users and content moving forward. Twitter’s former Trust and Safety boss Yoel Roth says if their company’s policies “are defined by edict” by the owner, get ready for a clash with advertisers and governments.